Migne Reading Room
PG 65 · cols. 1167–1212
Diadochus of Photice, One Hundred Chapters on Spiritual Perfection
Editors' preface
DIADOCHI EPISCOPI PHOTICES IN VETERE EPIRO ILLYRICI, CAPITA CENTUM DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI.
One Hundred Chapters on Spiritual Perfection, of Diadochus, Bishop of Photice in Old Epirus of Illyricum.
CAPUT I.
CHAPTER I.
De tribus virtutibus, quae tanquam duces debent antecedere contemplationem mentis spiritualem.
On three virtues, which ought to go before the spiritual contemplation of the mind as its guides.
Omnem spiritualem contemplationem, fratres, antecedant, tanquam duces, fides, spes, charitas, sed magis charitas: fides enim, et spes, docent contemnere ea quae videntur; charitas vero animam cum ipsis illis Dei virtutibus copulat, pervestigans sensu quodam mentis eum, qui videri non potest.
Let faith, hope and charity go before all spiritual contemplation, brethren, as its guides, but charity most of all: for faith and hope teach us to despise the things that are seen; but charity couples the soul with those very virtues of God, tracking out by a certain sense of the mind Him Who cannot be seen.
CAPUT II.
CHAPTER II.
Quomodo, et quando homo efficiatur bonus.
How, and when, a man is made good.
Solus Deus est natura bonus: homo autem studio bonorum morum efficitur bonus; dum mutatur in id boni quod ex seipso non est, per eum qui vi sua bonus est, tunc scilicet, cum anima studio virtutis tantum Deo adhaeret, quantum pro viribus operando adhaerere vult; ait enim Dominus: Estote boni et misericordes, sicut Pater vester coelestis.
God alone is good by nature: but man is made good by the pursuit of good conduct, while he is changed into that good which he is not of himself, through Him Who is good by His own power; that is, when the soul, by the pursuit of virtue, cleaves to God as much as it wills to cleave by working according to its strength; for the Lord says: Be good and merciful, as your heavenly Father is.
Editors' notes and page, col. 1167
Footnotes
(1) ‹Pater vester coelestis› · printed under col 1167
Luc. VI, 36.
Luke 6:36.
Editors' prose
AD LECTOREM DE SEQUENTI OPUSCULO.
To the reader, on the following little work.
(Biblioth. PP. Lugdun., V, 884.)
(Bibliotheca Patrum, Lyons, V, 884.)
Quo tempore vixerit sanctus Diadochus, adhuc quaerimus. Fuisse tamen ex numero veterum Patrum testis est sanctus Maximus confessor, qui Heraclio imperatore, et Honorio pontifice adversus Monothelitas certavit et scripsit. Is enim in Responsis de obscurioribus locis Scripturae, ad Thalassium, sancti hujus auctoris meminit, et hujus libri caput centesimum, De igne purgatorio citat, et interpretatur, id quod auctoritatem Diadochi non parum commendat. Appellat praeterea patrem Diadochum honoris, ut mihi quidem videtur, et reverentiae gratia. Meminit deinde Photius in Bibliotheca sua, id est, in libris a se lectis, his verbis quae nos ad verbum interpretati sumus: « Legi librum centum capitibus comprehensum cum decem definitionibus vice prooemii: prima fidei, Cogitatio de Deo expers omnis passionis; secunda spei, Peregrinatio mentis ad ea, quae sperantur; tertia patientiae, Cernere oculis mentis Deum invisibilem, perinde ut si esset visibilis, atque ita perdurare; quarta non avari, Ita velle non habere, ut alius vult habere; quinta scientiae, Se ipsum nescire extra se positum in Deo; sexta humilitatis, Continua oblivio suorum recte factorum; septima vacuitatis irae, Vehemens desiderium non irascendi; octava castimoniae, Sensus semper Deo adhaerescens; nona charitatis, Valde eos diligere, a quibus injuriam quis patitur; decima perfectae immutationis, Reputare acerbitatem mortis, gaudium in Dei oblectatione. His definitionibus subjecta sunt capita centum. Est autem hic liber iis compositus, qui se ad perfectionem exercent, et iis, qui ipsis actionibus perficientibus exercitati sunt, scientia enim per experientiam percepta facile verbis docetur. Auctor vero, ut inscriptio ipsius libri testatur, Diadochus est, episcopus Photices, quae est in vetere Epiro. » Hactenus Photius Constantinopolitanus.
At what time Saint Diadochus lived we are still enquiring. That he was, however, of the number of the ancient Fathers, Saint Maximus the Confessor is witness, who contended and wrote against the Monothelites under the emperor Heraclius and Pope Honorius. For in his Answers on the more obscure places of Scripture, to Thalassius, he makes mention of this holy author, and cites the hundredth chapter of this book, On the purgatorial fire, and interprets it, which commends the authority of Diadochus not a little. He calls Diadochus "father", moreover, as it seems to me at least, for honour's and reverence's sake. Photius next mentions him in his Library, that is, in the books he had read, in these words, which we have translated word for word: « I have read a book comprised in a hundred chapters, with ten definitions in place of a preface: the first, of faith: thought about God free of every passion; the second, of hope: the journeying of the mind to the things that are hoped for; the third, of patience: to behold the invisible God with the eyes of the mind just as if He were visible, and so to endure; the fourth, of one who is not avaricious: so to wish not to have as another wishes to have; the fifth, of knowledge: not to know oneself, being placed outside oneself in God; the sixth, of humility: continual forgetfulness of one's own good deeds; the seventh, of freedom from anger: a vehement desire not to be angry; the eighth, of chastity: a sense cleaving always to God; the ninth, of charity: to love greatly those from whom one suffers injury; the tenth, of perfect transformation: to reckon the bitterness of death [as] joy in the delight of God. Beneath these definitions the hundred chapters are set. This book, moreover, is composed for those who train themselves for perfection, and for those who have been trained by the very actions that make perfect; for knowledge gained through experience is easily taught in words. The author, as the inscription of the book itself attests, is Diadochus, bishop of Photice, which is in Old Epirus. » Thus far Photius of Constantinople.
Reperi in alio exemplari hanc inscriptionem, quae potest esse vice περιοχῆς argumentum et propositum explicantis. Sermones judicii, et discretionis spiritualis Diadochi, episcopi Photices Epiri, de cogitatione, et scientia, quomodo ad perfectionem vitae, duce Deo, pervenire oporteat, ut quisque nostrum secundum figuram evangelicae parabolae fructum feramus.
I have found in another copy this inscription, which can stand in place of a summary (περιοχῆς) setting out the argument and purpose: Discourses of judgement and of spiritual discernment, of Diadochus, bishop of Photice in Epirus, on thought and knowledge: how, with God as guide, one must arrive at perfection of life, so that each of us may bear fruit according to the figure of the Gospel parable.
Francisco Turriano Societatis Jesu interprete.
Francis Turrianus of the Society of Jesus being the translator.
Page
- running head: 1167 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1168 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹CAPUT I.› (gutter, shared with col 1168); B ‹sua bonus est, tunc scilicet›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the preface "Ad lectorem" is printed full width across the head of cols 1167–1168 and is set here only (pointer in n1168); the title of the work is printed full width below it and is set in c1167_a; the interpreter line "Francisco Turriano Societatis Jesu interprete." is printed full width under the title and is set above as editors' prose; rules above and below the preface.
CAPUT III.
CHAPTER III.
De peccato, quomodo et quando, incipiat esse.
On sin: how, and when, it begins to be.
Malum nec est in natura, nec est quisquam natura malus: Deus enim non fecit malum. Quando autem in desid⟨e⟩rio cordis aliquis format id quod non exsistit re ipsa, tunc incipit esse, quatenus vult, qui id facit. Oportet igitur studio recordationis Dei et omnis operis boni, negligere habitum mali: plus enim potest natura boni, quam habitus mall, quandoquidem illud quidem est, hoc vero non est, nisi cum agitur tantum.
Evil neither is in nature, nor is anyone evil by nature: for God did not make evil. But when someone in the desire of his heart forms that which does not exist in reality, then it begins to be, in so far as he who does it wills. We must therefore, by diligence in the remembrance of God and of every good work, neglect the habit of evil: for the nature of good is stronger than the habit of evil, since the one indeed is, but the other is not, except only while it is being done.
CAPUT IV.
CHAPTER IV.
Quando, et quomodo assequamur, ut simus ad similitudinem Dei.
When, and how, we attain to being after the likeness of God.
Omnes homines sumus ad imaginem Dei, illud autem ad similitudinem illorum tantum est, qui per multam charitatem, libertatem suam Deo in servitutem addixerunt. Quando enim non sumus nostri, tunc similes sumus ei qui nos sibi per charitatem
All of us men are after the image of God, but being after the likeness belongs only to those who through much charity have made over their freedom to God in servitude. For when we are not our own, then we are like Him Who through charity […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1168
Page
- running head: 1167 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1168 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹CAPUT III.› (gutter, shared with col 1167); B ‹tem ad similitudinem illorum›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the preface "Ad lectorem de sequenti opusculo" and the title of the work are printed full width across cols 1167–1168; both are set with col 1167 (preface in n1167, title in c1167_a).
reconciliavit, quod nemo assequetur, nisi persuaserit animae suae non admirari levem vitae hujus gloriam.
[…] has reconciled us to Himself: which no one will attain unless he has persuaded his soul not to admire the light glory of this life.
CAPUT V.
CHAPTER V.
Quomodo faciendum sit, ut voluntas ad bonum tantum sit prompta.
How it is to be brought about that the will be ready for good only.
Liberi arbitrii potestas est voluntas animae rationalis, quae prompte movetur quo velit: cui quidem tunc suadebimus, ut ad bonum tantum prompta sit, cum memoriam mali cogitationibus consumpserimus.
The power of free choice is the will of the rational soul, which is readily moved wherever it wills: and we shall persuade it to be ready for good only when we have consumed the memory of evil by thoughts.
CAPUT VI.
CHAPTER VI.
Quid sit lumen verae scientiae, et quid usus hujus luminis in mente efficiat.
What the light of true knowledge is, and what the use of this light effects in the mind.
Lumen verae cognitionis est discernere sine lapsu rectum a pravo: quod quidem cum fit, tunc via justitiae, quae ad Deum solem justitiae mentem ducit, ultra in infinitam scientiae illuminationem illam ipsam mentem introducit, tanquam quaerentem jam deinceps cum fiducia charitatem. Quare oportet, justitiam ab iis qui illam contumelia afficere audent, indignatione non irata eripere: zelus enim pietatis, non habendo quemquam odio, sed arguendo ostenditur.
The light of true knowledge is to discern without falling between right and wrong. And when this comes about, then the way of righteousness, which leads the mind to God, the Sun of righteousness, brings that very mind on further into the boundless illumination of knowledge, as one that now seeks charity henceforth with confidence. Wherefore justice must be rescued from those who dare to treat it with insult, with an indignation that is not angry: for the zeal of godliness is shown not by holding anyone in hatred, but by reproving.
CAPUT VII.
CHAPTER VII.
Quid efficiat sermo spiritualis, et quod exercitatio charitatis afferat facultatem et copiam ad loquendum de Deo.
What spiritual discourse effects, and that the exercise of charity brings the ability and the abundance for speaking of God.
Sermo spiritualis sensum mentis explet; operatio enim charitatis a Deo fertur, quamobrem non torquetur mens nostra tunc tractatione rerum divinarum. Non enim illo tempore inopiam, quae sollicitudinem affert, patitur: quippe quae tantum se contemplationibus dilatat, quantum operatio charitatis vult. Quare pulchra res est, exspectare semper fide per exercitationem charitatis, lumen dicendi. Nihil enim egentius illa mente, quae de Deo extra Deum philosophatur.
Spiritual discourse fills the sense of the mind; for the working of charity is borne from God, and for this reason our mind is not then tormented by the handling of divine matters. For at that time it does not suffer the want that brings anxiety: since it expands itself in contemplations as far as the working of charity wills. Therefore it is a fine thing always to await in faith, through the exercise of charity, the light of speaking. For nothing is needier than that mind which philosophizes about God outside God.
CAPUT VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
Quomodo accedendum sit ad loquendum de divinis rebus.
How one must approach speaking of divine things.
Nec oportet non illuminatum intendere mentem spiritualibus contemplationibus, neque copioso lumine benignitate Spiritus sancti repletum, statim ad loquendum accedere. Ubi enim est inopia, ea affert ignorantiam: ubi copia, non sinit loqui. Tunc enim anima, charitate Dei velut ebria, expetit per silentium contemplatione gloriae Domini perfrui. Quamobrem opus est, observata mediocritate illuminationis, ad loquendum de divinis rebus devenire: haec enim mensura formam quamdam sermonis gloriosi praebet; copiosa vero illuminatio fidem nutrit loquentis in fide, ut qui docet, primus fructum scientiae gustet per charitatem. Laborantem enim, inquit, agricolam primum oportet de fructibus percipere.
Neither ought one who is not illuminated to bend his mind to spiritual contemplations, nor ought one who has been filled with abundant light by the kindness of the Holy Spirit to come at once to speaking. For where there is want, it brings ignorance; where there is abundance, it does not allow one to speak. For then the soul, as though drunk with the charity of God, longs through silence to enjoy to the full the contemplation of the glory of the Lord. Therefore one must come to speaking of divine things when a moderate measure of illumination has been kept: for this measure provides a certain form of glorious discourse; but abundant illumination nourishes the faith of the one who speaks in faith, so that he who teaches may be the first to taste the fruit of knowledge through charity. For, he says, the husbandman who labours must be the first to partake of the fruits.
Editors' notes and page, col. 1169
Footnotes
(2) ‹oportet de fructibus percipere› · printed under col 1169
II Tim. II, 6.
2 Tim. 2:6.
Page
- running head: 1169 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1170 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹reconciliavit, quod nemo›; B ‹Lumen verae cognitionis›; C ‹tio enim charitatis a Deo›; D ‹mine benignitate Spiritus sancti› (gutter letters, shared with col 1170)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: no call was seen at the quotation "Laborantem … percipere" at zoom 3; note 2 is anchored at the words it cites. A small illegible call stands after "acquiratur" in the caption of CAPUT IX (col 1170); see n1170. Footnote 3, printed on the same line under col 1169, belongs to its call in col 1170. The note figures on this page are illegible at zoom 5; they are numbered by the sequence of the work (note 1 on col 1167, note 10 on col 1173, which runs on continuously).
CAPUT IX.
CHAPTER IX.
De charismate cognitionis et charismate sapientiae, quomodo utrumque illuminet, et quomodo utrumque acquiratur.
On the gift of knowledge and the gift of wisdom: how each gives light, and how each is acquired.
Unius quidem Spiritus sancti sunt charismata, sapientia et cognitio, sicut caetera omnia divina charismata; propriam vero, ut singula alia, habent operationem. Quamobrem aliis sermonem sapientiae, aliis sermonem scientiae, sive cognitionis, secundum eumdem Spiritum, tribui testatur Apostolus, cognitio enim experimento copulat hominem cum Deo, non excitando animam ad loquendum de rebus. Ex quo fit, ut aliqui ex iis, qui vitam solitariam in studio virtutis degunt, illuminentur quidem ab ipsa cognitione in sensu; ad sermones vero de rebus divinis non accedunt. Sapientia vero, si cui metu Dei, quod rarum est, tribuatur, ipsas cognitionis operationes manifestat; quandoquidem cognitio quidem operatione, sapientia vero sermone solet illuminare. Verum cognitionem quidem oratio affert, et quies multa in vacuitate perfecta sollicitudinis; sapientiam vero exercitatio sanctarum Scripturarum non ambitiosa, et in primis gratia largientis Dei.
Wisdom and knowledge are indeed gifts of the one Holy Spirit, as are all the other divine gifts; but each of them, like every other, has its own operation. Therefore the Apostle testifies that to some is given the word of wisdom, to others the word of knowledge, or cognition, according to the same Spirit; for knowledge joins man with God by experience, without stirring the soul to speak about things. Hence it comes about that some of those who lead the solitary life in the pursuit of virtue are indeed illuminated in sense by knowledge itself, and yet do not come to discourse about divine things. But wisdom, if it is granted to anyone in the fear of God, which is rare, makes manifest the very operations of knowledge; since knowledge is wont to give light by operation, but wisdom by discourse. Knowledge, however, is brought by prayer and by much quiet in perfect freedom from anxiety; but wisdom by an unambitious study of the holy Scriptures, and above all by the grace of God Who bestows it.
CAPUT X.
CHAPTER X.
Quid curandum, cum irascitilis movetur adversus passiones; et quid faciendum, ne passiones per orationem, vel per eleemosynam sedatae superbiam gignant.
What must be attended to when the irascible [part] is moved against the passions; and what must be done lest the passions, calmed by prayer or by almsgiving, beget pride.
Quando ea pars animae irascitur, quae adversus passiones movetur, scire oportet tempus esse silentii, est enim tempus luctae; cum vero viderit quis ipsius animae motus inconstantes, vel per orationem, vel per eleemosynam sedari, afficiatur amore et studio Scripturarum, alas mentis vinculo humilitatis firmans. Nemo enim, nisi sese valde submittat, et se pro nihilo ducat, poterit de amplitudine Dei narrare.
When that part of the soul is angered which is moved against the passions, one must know that it is a time for silence, for it is a time of struggle; but when someone sees the unsteady motions of the soul itself calmed, whether by prayer or by almsgiving, let him be moved by love and zeal for the Scriptures, making fast the wings of the mind with the bond of humility. For no one, unless he humbles himself greatly and counts himself as nothing, will be able to tell of the greatness of God.
CAPUT XI.
CHAPTER XI.
Cur sapientia spiritualis non sit ambitiosa; sapientia vero hujus mundi sit; et unde exsistat haec proprietas sapientiae spiritualis.
Why spiritual wisdom is not ambitious, but the wisdom of this world is; and whence this property of spiritual wisdom arises.
Spiritualis sermo semper animam a cupiditate inanis gloriae custodit; dum enim sensu luminis omnes partes ejus juvat, facit, ut non opus ei sit honore hominum. Quocirca semper mentem ab imaginationibus vacuam servat, quippe cum totam ad amandum Deum vertat. Sermo vero sapientiae hujus mundi semper ad inanem gloriam hominem invitat: etenim quia non potest eum experimento sensus juvare, amorem laudis alumnis suis largitur, tanquam ab ambitiosis hominibus fictus et formatus. Quamobrem qualitatem hanc sermonis divini absque errore dignoscemus, si silentio curis vacuo, tempora, quae ad loquendum non sunt constituta, in memoria Dei fervida consumpserimus.
Spiritual discourse always guards the soul from the desire of vain glory; for while by the sense of light it helps all its parts, it brings it about that the soul has no need of the honour of men. Wherefore it always keeps the mind empty of imaginings, since it turns it wholly to loving God. But the discourse of the wisdom of this world always invites man to vain glory: for since it cannot help him by the experience of sense, it bestows the love of praise on its nurslings, as a thing fashioned and formed by ambitious men. Therefore we shall discern this quality of divine discourse without error if, in a silence empty of cares, we spend the times not appointed for speaking in fervent remembrance of God.
Editors' notes and page, col. 1170
Footnotes
(3) ‹testatur Apostolus› · printed under col 1169
I Cor. XII, 7 sqq.
1 Cor. 12:7 ff.
Page
- running head: 1169 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1170 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹CAPUT IX.›; B ‹tur quidem ab ipsa cognitione›; C ‹Quando ea pars animae›; D ‹inanis gloriae custodit› (gutter letters, shared with col 1169)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: a second small call, illegible at zoom 5 (it looks like a superscript 3 or 2), stands after "acquiratur" at the end of the caption of CAPUT IX; the page prints only two notes, so it is not a separate note; it is recorded here as a second call of note 3 or a stray. Footnote 2 (II Tim. II, 6) is set in n1169. Note figures numbered by the sequence of the work (1 on col 1167 … 10 on col 1173). No footnotes are printed under col 1170.
CAPUT XII.
CHAPTER XII.
De dilectione sui, et amore Dei, et quid sit proprium amantis Deum, et quid diligentis se.
On love of self, and the love of God, and what is proper to one who loves God, and what to one who loves himself.
Qui se diligit, Deum amare non potest; qui vero se non diligit propter excellentiores divitias amoris in Deum, hic Deum amat. Ex quo fit, ut hic neque suam unquam gloriam quaerat, sed potius gloriam Dei. Qui enim se diligit, gloriam suam quaerit; qui autem Deum diligit, gloriam auctoris sui amat. Est enim animae sentientis, ac Deum amantis proprium, gloriam quidem Dei semper quaerere, in omnibus mandatis quae facit; sua vero submissione delectari, quod Deum quidem propter ejus magnificentiam deceat gloria, hominem vero submissio, ut per eam familiares Deo efficiamur: quod cum et nos fecerimus laetantes gloria Domini, exemplo Joannis Baptistae, incipiemus dicere sine intermissione ulla: Illum oportet crescere, nos autem minui.
He who loves himself cannot love God; but he who does not love himself, on account of the surpassing riches of the love [directed] towards God, this man loves God. From which it comes about that this man never seeks his own glory, but rather the glory of God. For he who loves himself seeks his own glory; but he who loves God loves the glory of his Maker. For it is proper to the soul that perceives and loves God always to seek the glory of God in all the commandments that it performs, but to delight in its own lowliness; because glory befits God on account of His magnificence, but lowliness [befits] man, that through it we may be made intimates of God. And when we too have done this, rejoicing in the glory of the Lord, after the example of John the Baptist, we shall begin to say without any intermission: He must increase, but we must decrease [John 3:30].
CAPUT XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
Quomodo contingat aliquando, ut aliquis videatur sibi non diligere Deum, ut vellet, cum tamen tunc maxime diligat, et unde hoc proveniat.
How it sometimes comes about that someone seems to himself not to love God as he would wish, when yet he then loves Him most, and whence this arises.
Novi ego quemdam, qui tametsi lugeret, quod non, ut vellet, Deum amaret, tamen ita Deum amabat, ut ejus anima hujusmodi desiderio vehementi continenter teneretur; ita ut Deus quidem gloria afficeretur in eo, ipse vero esset quasi nihil. Qui talis est, neque cum verbis laudatur, sed agnoscit quid sit: siquidem prae nimio humilitatis desiderio dignitatem suam non cogitat, cum alioqui ministret quidem Deo, ut lex praescribit sacerdotibus, ob studium tamen diligendi Deum obrepit ei oblivio dignitatis suae occultanti in profunda erga Deum charitate per spiritum humilitatis gloriationem de dignitate sua, ut jam sibi cogitatione sua inutilis quidam puer omni tempore videatur, quasi a dignitate sua alienus, prae humilitatis desiderio: quod quidem et nos facere oportet, et omnem honorem atque gloriam fugere, propter excellentes divitias amoris erga Deum, qui vere nos amavit.
I know a certain man who, although he mourned that he did not love God as he wished, nevertheless loved God so much that his soul was continually held by a vehement desire of this kind; so that God indeed was glorified in him, but he himself was as it were nothing. He who is such is not [lifted up] when he is praised with words, but recognizes what he is: for, out of an exceeding desire for humility, he does not think of his own dignity; and although in other respects he ministers to God, as the law prescribes to priests, yet through his zeal in loving God forgetfulness of his dignity steals upon him, as he hides, in his deep charity towards God, through the spirit of humility, all boasting of his dignity; so that now in his own thought he seems to himself at all times a kind of useless boy, as though a stranger to his own dignity, out of desire for humility. This indeed we too ought to do, and to flee all honour and glory, on account of the surpassing riches of love towards God, Who has truly loved us.
CAPUT XIV.
CHAPTER XIV.
De eo, qui sensu cordis Deum diligit, et quomodo iste ad exstaticum amorem veniat, jam totus extra amicitiam sui positus.
Of him who loves God with the sense of the heart, and how such a man comes to ecstatic love, being now wholly placed outside the friendship of himself.
Qui in sensu cordis Deum amat, hic est ab eo cognitus; quantam enim quis Dei charitatem in sensu animae capit, tanta eum amat. Quocirca qui sic est, illuminationem cognitionis vehementer amat, quousque ipsum sensum ossium sentiat, factus jam sui nesciens, imo totus a charitate immutatus. Qui talis vero est, adest ille quidem, et non adest in vita: adhuc enim in corpore suo versans, peregrinatur propter charitatem perpetua quadam animae ad Deum profectione; incenso enim deinceps corde vehementer charitatis igne, ut quadam desiderii facula agglutinatus est Deo, tanquam totus extra amicitiam sui positus, propter charitatem
He who loves God in the sense of the heart is known by Him; for as much of the charity of God as one receives in the sense of the soul, so much does He love him. Wherefore he who is thus vehemently loves the illumination of knowledge, until he feels it in the very sense of his bones, having now become unaware of himself, nay rather wholly changed by charity. And such a man is indeed present, and [yet] is not present, in this life: for while still dwelling in his body, he is away from home through charity, by a certain perpetual journeying of the soul towards God; for his heart being thenceforth vehemently kindled by the fire of charity, he is glued to God as by a kind of torch of desire, as one wholly placed outside the friendship of himself, on account of the charity
Editors' notes and page, col. 1171
Footnotes
(4) ‹nos autem minui› · printed under cols 1171–1172 (one line across the page)
Joan. III, 30.
John 3:30.
Page
- running head: 1171 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1172 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹CAPUT XII.› (gutter, level with the head of col 1172); B ‹et nos fecerimus laetantes›; C ‹gnitatem suam non cogitat›; D ‹Qui in sensu cordis Deum amat› (gutter letters, shared with col 1172)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the footnote line of this page (notes 4–9) runs across both columns; notes 5–9 are called in col 1172 and set in n1172.
Dei, sive enim (inquit) excedimus, Deo, sive sobrii sumus, vobis.
of God; for whether (he says) we are beside ourselves, [it is] to God; or whether we are sober, [it is] for you [2 Cor. 5:13].
CAPUT XV.
CHAPTER XV.
Quando incipiat aliquis diligere proximum; et quare amicitia secundum carnem cito dissolvatur; amicitia vero spiritualis, minime.
When someone begins to love his neighbour; and why friendship according to the flesh is quickly dissolved, but spiritual friendship not at all.
Cum coeperit quis sentire copiose charitatem Dei, tunc incipit sensu spiritus proximum quoque amare. Haec enim est charitas, de qua omnes Scripturae sanctae disserunt; amicitia namque secundum carnem, non alligatur sensu spiritus, perfacile prava quapiam occasione inventa, dissolvitur. Idcirco quamvis contingat irritatio aliqua in anima, in qua Deus operatur, non solvitur vinculum charitatis. Inflammans enim rursus seipsam calore charitatis Dei, statim ad virtutem revocatur, et cum magno gaudio charitatem proximi quaerit, tametsi magnam contumeliam aut damnum acceperit; asperitatem enim contentionis dulcedine Dei consumit.
When someone has begun to feel the charity of God abundantly, then he begins to love his neighbour too with the sense of the spirit. For this is the charity of which all the holy Scriptures discourse; for friendship according to the flesh is not bound by the sense of the spirit, and is very easily dissolved when some wrong occasion has been found. Therefore, although some irritation may befall the soul in which God works, the bond of charity is not loosed. For, kindling itself again with the warmth of the charity of God, it is at once called back to virtue, and with great joy seeks the charity of its neighbour, even though it has received great insult or loss; for it consumes the bitterness of contention with the sweetness of God.
CAPUT XVI.
CHAPTER XVI.
De amore erga Deum in sensu cordis, quomodo acquiratur; et de perfecta charitate, sine timore Dei purgante; et de altera charitate non perfecta, conjuncta cum timore purgante.
On love towards God in the sense of the heart, how it is acquired; and on perfect charity, without the purging fear of God; and on the other charity, not perfect, joined with purging fear.
Nemo potest in sensu cordis Deum amare, nisi prius toto corde eum timeat; timore enim Dei efficitur, ut anima pura et mollis effecta, ad exercendam charitatem se applicet; nunquam vero aliquis ejusmodi metum Dei, qui dictus est, capiet, nisi extra omnes vitae hujus sollicitudines positus fuerit. Cum enim quietem, et multam curarum vacuitatem mens ceperit, tunc metus Dei sollicitat eam, et purgat multo cum sensu, ejiciens omne terrenum et crassum, ut sic illam ad amandum valde bonitatem Dei adducat. Quare metus quidem cum mediocri charitate eorum est, qui adhuc purgantur; perfecta vero charitas eorum, qui jam purgati sunt, in quibus non est amplius timor. Perfecta enim charitas foras expellit timorem. Utrumque vero est justorum tantum, qui operatione Spiritus sancti virtutes operantur. Idcirco interdum quidem dicit Scriptura divina: Timete Dominum, omnes sancti ejus: interdum vero: Diligite Dominum, omnes sancti ejus, ut plane intelligamus, esse quidem metum Dei cum mediocri charitate, eorum justorum, ut dictum est, qui adhuc purgantur; perfectam vero charitatem, eorum, qui purgati sunt, in quibus non est amplius de illo timore cogitatio, sed potius ardor, et agglutinatio continua animae ad Deum p⟨e⟩r operationem Spiritus sancti, sicut scriptum est: Adhaesit anima mea post te; me autem suscepit dextera tua.
No one can love God in the sense of the heart unless he first fears Him with his whole heart; for by the fear of God it comes about that the soul, made pure and soft, applies itself to the exercise of charity; but no one will ever lay hold of such a fear of God as has been described unless he has been placed outside all the cares of this life. For when the mind has gained quiet and great freedom from cares, then the fear of God stirs it and purges it with much sense, casting out everything earthly and gross, so that it may thus bring it to love the goodness of God greatly. Wherefore fear with a moderate charity belongs to those who are still being purged; but perfect charity to those who have already been purged, in whom there is no longer fear. For perfect charity casts out fear. Both, however, belong only to the righteous, who work the virtues by the operation of the Holy Spirit. Therefore divine Scripture sometimes says: Fear the Lord, all you His saints; but at other times: Love the Lord, all you His saints; that we may plainly understand that there is indeed a fear of God with a moderate charity, belonging to those righteous who, as has been said, are still being purged; but a perfect charity, belonging to those who have been purged, in whom there is no longer any thought of that fear, but rather ardour, and a continual cleaving of the soul to God through the operation of the Holy Spirit, as it is written: My soul has clung after Thee; and Thy right hand has upheld me.
CAPUT XVII.
CHAPTER XVII.
Quomodo anima aegrota, per metum Dei incipiat curari, et paulatim ad perfectam sanitatem per charitatem perduci.
How the sick soul begins to be healed through the fear of God, and is little by little brought through charity to perfect health.
Sicut vulnera quae corpori accidunt, postquam
Just as wounds that befall the body, after […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1172
Footnotes
(5) ‹sive enim (inquit› · printed under cols 1171–1172
II Cor. V, 13.
2 Cor. 5:13.
(6) ‹foras expellit timorem› · printed under cols 1171–1172
I Joan. IV, 18.
1 John 4:18.
(7) ‹Timete Dominum, omnes sancti ejus› · printed under cols 1171–1172
Psal. XXXIII, 10.
Ps. 33:10.
(8) ‹Diligite Dominum, omnes sancti ejus› · printed under cols 1171–1172
Psal. XXX, 24.
Ps. 30:24.
(9) ‹suscepit dextera tua› · printed under cols 1171–1172
Psal. LXII, 9.
Ps. 62:9.
Page
- running head: 1171 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1172 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹Dei, sive enim›; B ‹charitatis Dei, statim›; C ‹nisi extra omnes vitae›; D ‹esse quidem metum Dei› (gutter letters, shared with col 1171)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the call figures in the text are blurred; notes are numbered by the printed sequence of the footnote line (4 in col 1171, 5–9 in col 1172; the numbering runs on through the work: 1 on col 1167, 10 on col 1173; 7 is clear in the text).
squalida, et sine curatione relicta sunt, medicinam, si a medicis adhibeatur, non sentiunt; purgata vero sentiunt vim medicamenti, et celeriter sanantur; sic anima quandiu expers curationis est, et lepra voluptatis tota operta, metum Dei non potest sentire: quamvis ei tribunal Dei horribile et praepotens perpetuo denuntietur. Postquam vero magna attentione purgari coeperit, tunc sentit veluti remedium quoddam vitae, Dei metum, qui eam arguendo sanat, tanquam igne quodam sine dolore. Unde paulatim deinceps purgata ad perfectam purgationem evadit, tantum crescente charitate, quantum decrescit metus, ut sic ad perfectam charitatem perveniat, in qua non est timor, ut dictum est; sed potius omnis indolentia, quam gloria Dei operatur. Sit igitur vobis summa gloriatio, continua, et perennis: et primum quidem timor Dei, deinde vero charitas, plenitudo legis perfectionis in Christo.
[…] have become foul and been left without treatment, do not feel the medicine if it is applied by physicians, but once cleansed they feel the force of the remedy and are quickly healed; so the soul, as long as it is without treatment and wholly covered with the leprosy of pleasure, cannot feel the fear of God, even though the dreadful and all-powerful tribunal of God is continually proclaimed to it. But after it has begun to be purged with great attentiveness, then it feels the fear of God as a kind of remedy of life, which heals it by reproving it, as with a kind of fire without pain. Hence, purged little by little from then on, it comes through to perfect purgation, charity growing as much as fear diminishes, so that thus it may arrive at perfect charity, in which there is no fear, as has been said, but rather an entire freedom from pain, which the glory of God works. Let this, then, be your highest boast, continual and everlasting: first indeed the fear of God, and then charity, the fullness of the law of perfection in Christ.
CAPUT XVIII.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Quomodo anima, quandiu est curis mundi involuta, non possit Deum amare, neque quod sui officii est erga eum recte dijudicare.
How the soul, as long as it is entangled in the cares of the world, cannot love God, nor rightly discern what its duty towards Him is.
Anima quae nondum curis mundi soluta ac libera est, neque Deum legitime amabit, neque diabolum digne exsecrabitur: est enim sollicitudine vitae hujus molesto prorsus tegumento involuta. Unde eorum mens, qui tales sunt, tribunal suum agnoscere non potest, ut apud se sine errore, suffragia judicii exploret. Est igitur omnibus modis utilis secessus.
The soul which is not yet loosed and free from the cares of the world will neither love God rightly nor curse the devil as he deserves; for it is wrapped in the anxiety of this life as in an altogether troublesome covering. Hence the mind of those who are such cannot recognize its own tribunal, so as to examine within itself without error the votes of its judgement. Withdrawal is therefore useful in every way.
CAPUT XIX.
CHAPTER XIX.
Quae sint propria animae purae.
What things are proper to a pure soul.
Animae purae propria sunt sermo non invidus, zelus malitiae expers, et continuus amor in Dominum gloriae. Tunc enim mens lances suas perfecte moderatur ac temperat, rationi suae tanquam in purissimo et incorruptissimo judicio assistens.
Proper to a pure soul are speech without envy, zeal free of malice, and continual love towards the Lord of glory. For then the mind perfectly regulates and balances its scales, standing by its reason as at a most pure and incorruptible judgement.
CAPUT XX.
CHAPTER XX.
Quod necessario ad fidem opera, et ad opera adjungenda sit fides.
That works must of necessity be joined to faith, and faith to works.
Fides sine operibus, et opera sine fide eodem modo improbabuntur: oportet enim fideles fidem acta ostendentem Domino offerre. Nec enim patri nostro Abraham in justitiam fides reputata esset, nisi fructum ejus filium suum obtulisset.
Faith without works and works without faith will be rejected in the same way: for the faithful must offer to the Lord a faith that shows itself in deeds. For faith would not have been reckoned to our father Abraham for righteousness had he not offered his son as its fruit.
CAPUT XXI.
CHAPTER XXI.
Qualis sit fides sine operibus, et qualis per dilectionem operata.
What faith without works is like, and what [faith] working through love is like.
Qui Deum amat, et legitime credit, idem opera fidei sancte perficit; qui vero tantum credit, et non amat, idem neque fidem ipsam, quam habet, videtur habere. Levi enim mente credit in quo pondus gloriae charitatis non operatur. Fides ergo in actione per charitatem posita, magnitudo virtutum est.
He who loves God and believes rightly, the same accomplishes the works of faith in a holy manner; but he who only believes and does not love, the same does not seem to have even the faith itself which he has. For he believes with a light mind in whom the weight of the glory of charity does not work. Faith, then, set in action through charity, is the greatness of the virtues.
CAPUT XXII.
CHAPTER XXII.
De non scrutando curiose profundum fidei.
On not searching curiously into the depth of faith.
Profundum fidei si scrutemur, turbulentum quidem est; tranquillum vero, si animo contemplemur; non enim patitur profundum fidei, quod est
The depth of faith, if we search into it, is turbulent indeed; but calm, if we contemplate it with the mind; for the depth of faith, which is […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1173
Page
- running head: 1173 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1174 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹squalida, et sine curatione›; B ‹ratur. Sit igitur vobis›; C ‹Quae sint propria animae purae› (caption of CAPUT XIX); D ‹Qualis sit fides sine operibus› (caption of CAPUT XXI) (gutter letters, shared with col 1174)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: note 10 (Psal. XXVII, 7) is printed under this column, but its call is in col 1174; it is set in n1174.
aqua oblivionis, ut curiosis cogitationibus illud contemplemur. Simplicitate ergo intelligentiae in aquis ejus navigamus, ut sic ad portum voluntatis Dei perveniamus.
[…] the water of forgetfulness, does not suffer us to contemplate it with curious thoughts. So we sail upon its waters with simplicity of understanding, that we may thus arrive at the harbour of the will of God.
CAPUT XXIII.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Quando mens non possit sentire sensu cordis, sive gustu animae odorem coelestium bonorum, licet id vehementer desideret.
When the mind cannot perceive with the sense of the heart, or with the taste of the soul, the fragrance of heavenly goods, although it vehemently desires it.
Nemo potest, vel diligere, vel credere legitime, si ipse sui accusatorem habeat. Cum enim conscientia nostra seipsam arguendo conturbat, non sinitur odorem coelestium bonorum sentire; sed potius in ambiguum statim distrahitur, ita ut propter antegressam experientiam fidei ferventer quidem id appetat, assequi tamen in sensu cordis per charitatem propter crebros, ut dixi, morsus, et accusationes conscientiae non possit. Caeterum ubi nos ipsi fervidiore oratione et attentione purgaverimus, cum majori in Deo experientia optatum adipiscemur.
No one can either love or believe rightly if he is himself his own accuser. For when our conscience troubles itself by reproving itself, it is not allowed to perceive the fragrance of heavenly goods; but rather it is at once pulled apart into doubt, so that because of the experience of faith that has gone before it longs for it fervently indeed, yet cannot attain it in the sense of the heart through charity, because of the frequent stings, as I have said, and accusations of conscience. But when we have purged ourselves by more fervent prayer and attention, we shall obtain what we long for with a greater experience in God.
CAPUT XXIV.
CHAPTER XXIV.
De duplici sensu corporis et mentis, et quomodo sensus mentis excitandus sit ad gustandum coelestia.
On the twofold sense, of the body and of the mind, and how the sense of the mind is to be roused to taste heavenly things.
Sicut ad ea quae nobis pulchra videntur, sensus corporis nos quodammodo per vim incitant, sic ad ea bona, quae non cadunt sub aspectum, sensus mentis nos solet deducere, quando divinam bonitatem degustarit. Unumquodque enim sibi cognatum et congenium omnino appetit: anima quidem, ut corporis expers, coelestia bona; corpus vero, ut e terra, terrenas voluptates. Ad experientiam igitur sensus materiae et concretionis expertis sine errore veniemus si materiam corporis laboribus attenuaverimus.
Just as the senses of the body in a manner drive us by force towards the things that seem beautiful to us, so the sense of the mind is wont to lead us to those goods which do not fall under sight, when it has tasted the divine goodness. For each thing seeks above all what is akin and congenial to it: the soul, as being without body, heavenly goods; but the body, as being from the earth, earthly pleasures. We shall therefore come without error to the experience of the sense that has no part in matter and compounding if we have thinned the matter of the body by labours.
CAPUT XXV.
CHAPTER XXV.
De uno sensu animae secundum operationem in statu innocentiae, et divisione post peccatum, et de sensu supplici animae a Spiritu sancto.
On the one sense of the soul according to its operation in the state of innocence, and its division after sin; and on the simple sense of the soul from the Holy Spirit.
Ipsa sanctae nostrae cognitionis operatio edocet unum quidem esse sensum animae naturalem ac rationalem, qui in duas postea operationes propter peccatum Adae divisus est; alterum vero simplicem, qui scilicet a Spiritu sancto ipsi animae advenit, quem nemo potest cognoscere, nisi ii tantum, qui se a voluptatibus vitae hujus propter spem futurorum bonorum libenter expediunt, et omnem appetitum sensus corporei per temperantiam marcescere faciunt. In his enim mens, quia per vacuitatem sollicitudinis integra sanitate movetur, divinam bonitatem, quae inexplicabilis est, sentire potest, et suum gaudium cum corpore secundum mensuram sui profectus communicare, ratione quadam amatoriae confessionis interminata exsultans. In ipso enim, inquit, speravit cor meum et adjutus sum, et refloruit caro mea, ex voluntate mea confitebor ei. Laetitia enim qua tunc anima et corpus afficitur, admonitio quaedam certa est vitae immortalis.
The very operation of our holy knowledge teaches that there is one natural and rational sense of the soul, which was afterwards divided into two operations because of the sin of Adam; but another, a simple one, which comes to the soul itself from the Holy Spirit, and which no one can know except only those who willingly free themselves from the pleasures of this life for the hope of the goods to come, and make every appetite of bodily sense wither away through temperance. For in these the mind, because through freedom from anxiety it is moved in unimpaired health, can feel the divine goodness, which is inexplicable, and share its joy with the body according to the measure of its progress, exulting in a certain boundless manner of loving confession. For in Him, he says, my heart has hoped and I have been helped, and my flesh has flourished again, and with my will I will confess to Him. For the gladness with which soul and body are then affected is a certain sure reminder of immortal life.
Editors' notes and page, col. 1174
Footnotes
(10) ‹ex voluntate mea confitebor ei› · printed under col 1173
Psal. XXVII, 7.
Ps. 27:7.
Page
- running head: 1173 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1174 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹aqua oblivionis›; B ‹charitatem propter crebros›; C ‹ut e terra, terrenas›; D ‹se a voluptatibus vitae› (gutter letters, shared with col 1173)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: (none)
CAPUT XXVI.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Quomodo oporteat perturbationibus carere, ad discernendas cogitationes, et utrum a Deo sint missae, an a daemone.
How one must be free of disturbances, in order to discern thoughts, and whether they are sent by God, or by a demon.
Oportet eos qui certant, animum semper extra perturbationum fluctus conservare, ut mens cogitationes incurrentes discernens, bonas quidem, et a Deo missas, in penu memoriae recondat; malas vero et daemoniacas ex apothecis naturae ejiciat. Mare enim cum tranquillum est, usque ad fundum est piscatoribus perspicuum, ita ut tunc nihil fere ibi piscium eos lateat; cum vero ventis agitatur, tegit tempestate turbida, quae in placida tranquillitate largiter facit perspici. Ex quo fit, ut ars eorum qui piscatorios dolos machinantur, otiosa sit: quod quidem menti, quae in contemplatione versatur, evenire solet, tunc maxime, cum fundum ejus ira injusta turbatum est.
Those who contend must always keep the soul outside the waves of disturbances, so that the mind, discerning the thoughts that come upon it, may lay up in the storehouse of memory the good ones, sent by God, but cast out of the store-rooms of its nature the evil and demonic ones. For the sea, when it is calm, is transparent to fishermen right to the bottom, so that then hardly any of the fish there escape them; but when it is stirred by winds, it covers with a turbid storm what in placid calm it lets be seen abundantly. From which it comes about that the art of those who contrive the snares of fishing is idle: and this is wont to befall the mind that is engaged in contemplation, most of all when its depth has been troubled by unjust anger.
CAPUT XXVII.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Cur pauci sint, qui peccata sua perfecte agnoscant et quid faciendum sit, ut hoc facere possimus.
Why there are few who perfectly recognize their sins, and what must be done that we may be able to do this.
Paucissimorum est, lapsus suos perfecte cognoscere eorum, quorum mentibus nunquam excidit memoria Dei. Quemadmodum enim nostri corporis oculi, cum sani sunt, cuncta possunt cernere, etiam culices in aere volitantes; cum vero turbati sunt, aut humore quodam suffuso septi, si quid in eorum aspectum incurrat grande, hoc tenuiter cernunt: minuta vero non sentiunt; sic anima, si ardorem ex cupiditate mundi collectum studiose restrinxerit, etiam valde parva errata pro gravissimis ducens, lacrymas multas, cum multa gratiarum actione continenter Deo offert. Justi enim, inquit, confitebuntur nomini tuo. Contra vero si perseveret in cupiditate mundi, cum quid est ad caedem pertinens, aut aliud quid magno dignum supplicio, sentit illa quidem sensim, alia vero errata ne significari quidem sibi vult, imo saepenumero in virtutibus ea ducit, et pro eorum defensione non pudet miseram oratione uti vehementi.
It belongs to very few to know their own falls perfectly: to those from whose minds the remembrance of God never slips away. For just as the eyes of our body, when they are healthy, can discern all things, even gnats flitting in the air; but when they are troubled, or hemmed in by some humour spread over them, if anything large comes into their sight, they discern it dimly, but do not perceive small things; so the soul, if it has diligently checked the heat gathered from desire of the world, reckoning even very small faults as most grave, continually offers to God many tears with much thanksgiving. For the just, he says, shall confess to Thy name [Ps. 139:14]. But on the contrary, if it persists in desire of the world, when there is something pertaining to murder, or some other thing deserving great punishment, it perceives it, indeed, [but] gradually; while its other faults it does not wish even to have pointed out to it, nay often counts them among its virtues, and the wretched [soul] is not ashamed to use vehement speech in their defence.
CAPUT XXVIII.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Quomodo Spiritus sanctus animam purget, et quid faciendum sit, ut hoc facere possimus.
How the Holy Spirit purges the soul, and what must be done, that we may be able to do this.
Solummodo Spiritus sancti est purgare mentem: nisi enim ingrediatur fortis ille, et diripiat latronem, nunquam praeda eripietur. Oportet igitur in omnibus pace animae Spiritum sanctum recreare, vel lucernam cognitionis semper apud nos lucentem habeamus: ipsa enim in penetrali mentis semper splendente, non solum illi amarulenti et tenebricosi daemonum appulsus patefiunt, sed etiam magnopere languescunt, ab illo sancto et glorioso lumine deprehensi. Idcirco Apostolus ait: Spiritum nolite exstinguere, id est, ne per maleficia, et pravas cogitationes Spiritum sanctum tristitia afficiatis, ne suo illo splendore vos desinat protegere. Nec enim aeternum illud et vivificum Spiritus sancti exstinguitur, quin potius illius tristitia, hoc
It belongs to the Holy Spirit alone to purge the mind: for unless that strong one enter in and plunder the robber, the spoil will never be snatched away. We must therefore in all things refresh the Holy Spirit by the peace of the soul, or [so] may we have the lamp of knowledge always shining with us: for while it shines ever in the inner chamber of the mind, not only are those bitter and dark assaults of the demons laid open, but they also grow greatly feeble, caught out by that holy and glorious light. Therefore the Apostle says: Extinguish not the Spirit [1 Thess. 5:19]; that is, do not by evil deeds and wicked thoughts afflict the Holy Spirit with grief, lest He cease to protect you with that splendour of His. For that eternal and life-giving [light] of the Holy Spirit is not itself extinguished; rather, His grief, that
Editors' notes and page, col. 1175
Footnotes
(11) ‹confitebuntur nomini tuo› · printed under cols 1175–1176 (one line across the page)
Psal. CXXXIX, 14.
Ps. 139:14.
(12) ‹Spiritum nolite exstinguere› · printed under cols 1175–1176
I Thess. V, 19.
1 Thess. 5:19.
Page
- running head: 1175 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1176 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹CAPUT XXVI.› (gutter, level with the head of col 1176); B ‹tur, evenire solet›; C ‹mis ducens, lacrymas›; D ‹nem, nunquam praeda› (gutter letters, shared with col 1176)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: imported column (anthology seed M12, CAPUT XXVI–XXVIII); edges checked against the page and complete; nothing added.
est aversio, mentem sine lumine cognitionis obscuram et caligine circumfusam relinquit.
is, His turning away, leaves the mind dark without the light of knowledge and wrapped about in gloom.
CAPUT XXIX.
CHAPTER XXIX.
De uno sensu mentis ante peccatum, et divisione ejus propter peccatum, et quando appetitus irrationalis cum rationali conjungatur, et consentiat.
Of the one sense of the mind before sin, and of its division on account of sin, and when the irrational appetite is joined with the rational, and consents [to it].
Unum, ut dixi, sensum esse naturalem animae, quinque vero sensus plane differre totidem usibus atque muneribus partium corporis, sanctus et benignus Spiritus Dei nos docet. Mens tamen propter peccatum inobedientiae in totidem ipsius animae motus distrahitur; quocirca una quidem pars animae ad passiones se adjungit, unde, quae sunt vitae jucunda cum voluptate percipit; altera vero rationis ac intelligentiae motu, saepenumero delectatur: cum continentes sumus, expetit. Si igitur veniamus ad habitum contemnendi ea quae mundo sunt pulchra, poterimus etiam appetitum animae terrenum cum ejusdem appetitu compote rationis conjungere, communicatione Spiritus sancti in nobis hoc dispensante: nisi enim haec divina bonitas efficienter penetralia animae nostrae splendore illustraverit, non poterimus individuo, id est, toto sensu bonum degustare.
That the natural sense of the soul is one, as I have said, while the five senses plainly differ according to as many uses and functions of the parts of the body, the holy and kindly Spirit of God teaches us. Yet the mind, on account of the sin of disobedience, is drawn apart into as many movements of the soul itself; wherefore one part of the soul attaches itself to the passions, whence it perceives with pleasure the things that are delightful in life; while the other is often delighted by the movement of reason and understanding: when we are continent, it longs [for this]. If, then, we come to the habit of despising the things that are beautiful to the world, we shall be able to join even the earthly appetite of the soul with its own appetite that is possessed of reason, the communion of the Holy Spirit ordering this in us: for unless this divine goodness effectually lights up the inner chambers of our soul with its splendour, we shall not be able to taste the good with an undivided, that is, a whole, sense.
CAPUT XXX.
CHAPTER XXX.
Quomodo et quando sensu mentis discernantur consolationes verae a falsis.
How and when, by the sense of the mind, true consolations are discerned from false.
Sensus mentis est gustus perfectus, quo res discernuntur. Quemadmodum enim gustu, qui est sensus corporis, bona a malis sine errore, cum recte valemus, discernentes ea quae sunt suavia, appetimus: sic mens nostra, cum coeperit integra sanitate, et in multa curarum vacuitate moveri, potest etiam divinam consolationem affatim sentire, et a contraria nunquam rapi. Ut enim corpus cum terreni cibi suavitatem gustat, experientiam sensus habet ab errore liberam, sic mens cum supra prudentiam carnis gloriatur, sentire potest sine errore Spiritus sancti consolationem. Gustate enim, inquit, et videte quoniam suavis est Dominus, memoriamque habere gustus sine oblivione per operationem charitatis ad probandum potiora, ut Apostolus ait: Et hoc oro, ut charitas vestra magis abundet in scientia, et omni sensu, ut probetis potiora.
The sense of the mind is a perfect taste, by which things are discerned. For just as by taste, which is a sense of the body, we discern good things from bad without error when we are in good health, and seek after those that are sweet: so our mind, when it has begun to move in unimpaired health and in much freedom from cares, can also perceive the divine consolation abundantly, and never be carried off by the contrary [one]. For as the body, when it tastes the sweetness of earthly food, has an experience of the sense that is free from error, so the mind, when it glories above the prudence of the flesh, can perceive without error the consolation of the Holy Spirit. For Taste, he says, and see that the Lord is sweet [Ps. 33:9]; and [it can] hold the memory of the taste without forgetting, through the working of charity, so as to approve the better things, as the Apostle says: And this I pray, that your charity may more and more abound in knowledge, and in all understanding, that you may approve the better things [Phil. 1:9, 10].
CAPUT XXXI.
CHAPTER XXXI.
De falsa consolatione Satanae per quietem somni immissa, et quomodo mens, per memoriam ferventem nominis Jesu, eam discutit et Satanam fugat.
On the false consolation of Satan, sent in through the quiet of sleep; and how the mind, through fervent remembrance of the name of Jesus, scatters it and puts Satan to flight.
Cum mens nostra consolationem Spiritus sancti sentire coeperit, tunc Satanas animam quodam sensu simulatae voluptatis consolatur per nocturnam quietem, quando levissimum somnum et brevissimum capit. Si igitur tunc mens ita parata reperiatur, ut nomen Domini Jesu ferventi memoria retineat, et hoc sancto et glorioso nomine, tanquam armis adversus dolos ejus usa fuerit, recedit quidem diabolus fallax, sed postea ad bellum per
When our mind has begun to feel the consolation of the Holy Spirit, then Satan consoles the soul with a certain sense of counterfeit pleasure during the night's rest, when it takes a very light and very short sleep. If, then, the mind is found so prepared that it holds the name of the Lord Jesus in fervent remembrance, and has used this holy and glorious name as weapons against his wiles, the deceitful devil does indeed withdraw, but afterwards […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1176
Footnotes
(13) ‹quoniam suavis est Dominus› · printed under cols 1175–1176
Psal. XXXIII, 9.
Ps. 33:9.
(14) ‹ut probetis potiora› · printed under cols 1175–1176
Philipp. I, 9, 10.
Phil. 1:9, 10.
Page
- running head: 1175 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1176 (across the page); the column figure at the head is blurred and reads rather like "1173"; the facing head 1175 and the sequence give 1176
- marginal letters: A ‹est aversio›; B ‹cum continentes sumus›; C (gutter, level with "mis ducens" of col 1175; the line of this column beside it was not read); D ‹CAPUT XXXI.› (gutter letters, shared with col 1175)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: imported column (anthology seed M12, end of CAPUT XXVIII to CAPUT XXX) kept; CAPUT XXXI, which follows on the page, was added in c1176_b.
se cum anima gerendum accenditur. Ex quo rursus fit, ut mens perfecte jam fallacias daemonis agnoscens, magis proficiat in experientia discretionis.
[…] is kindled to wage war in person with the soul. From this in turn it comes about that the mind, now perfectly recognizing the deceits of the demon, makes more progress in the experience of discernment.
CAPUT XXXII.
CHAPTER XXXII.
De bona consolatione animae, quomodo tum per vigiliam, tum per quietem somni exsistat, et quomodo per falsam consolationem nitatur diabolus fallere animam in somno.
On the good consolation of the soul: how it arises both in waking and in the quiet of sleep; and how the devil strives to deceive the soul in sleep by false consolation.
Bona consolatio aut per vigiliam exsistit, aut etiam per visum in somno, cum quis daturus se quieti, in fervida Dei memoria cum charitate ejus veluti conglutinatus est; fallax vero consolatio semper, ut dixi, se infundit in levem somnum pugilis cum mediocri Dei memoria: illa enim vera consolatio, utpote a Deo proficiscens, aperte animas spiritualium pugilum cum multa eorum laetitia hortari vult ad charitatem; haec vero falsa, quia vento quodam fallaciae solet animam afflare, nititur subripere per somnum experientiam ipsius sensus mentis, memoriam Dei integre conservantis. Si igitur, ut dixi, reperiatur illic mens bene memor Domini J⟨e⟩su, dissipat quidem illam auram inimici, quae suavis esse falso apparebat, moveturque exsultatione ad pugnandum cum eo, tanquam habeat deinceps post gratiam velut secunda arma ipsam de experientia gloriationem.
Good consolation arises either in waking, or also through a vision in sleep, when someone about to give himself to rest has been, as it were, glued fast with His charity in the fervent remembrance of God; but false consolation always, as I have said, pours itself into the light sleep of a combatant whose remembrance of God is moderate: for that true consolation, as proceeding from God, wishes openly to exhort the souls of spiritual combatants to charity, with great gladness on their part; but this false one, because it is wont to breathe upon the soul with a kind of wind of deceit, strives to steal away through sleep the experience of the very sense of the mind that keeps the remembrance of God entire. If, then, as I have said, the mind is found there well mindful of the Lord Jesus, it scatters that breath of the enemy which falsely appeared to be sweet, and is moved with exultation to fight against him, as if it had from then on, after grace, a second set of weapons, as it were: the very boast that comes from experience.
CAPUT XXXIII.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Quomodo vera laetitia Spiritus sancti a falsa daemonis dignoscatur et quando diabolus aggreditur decipere per falsam consolationem.
How the true gladness of the Holy Spirit is distinguished from the false gladness of the demon, and when the devil sets about deceiving by false consolation.
Si anima certa motione, et non animo facta ad charitatem Dei inflammetur, quasi volens etiam trahere corpus ad profundum illius charitatis, sive per vigiliam, sive, quemadmodum dixi, cum somnum capit, in quo divina gratia operatur, nihilque omnino aliud tunc cogitet, quam hoc solum, ad quod excitata est, scire esse operationem Spiritus sancti. Tota enim affecta illa inexplicabili dulcedine, nihil aliud potest tunc cogitare, quoniam laetitia quadam vehementi perfunditur. Si autem ullam prorsus dubitationem, aut foedam aliquam cogitationem mens in illa gratiae operatione concipiat, quamvis sancto nomine Jesu usa sit ad propulsandum malum, et non magis ad amorem tantum Dei incendendum, sciendum est, consolationem illam falsa specie laetitiae a fallace daemone proficisci; laetitia vero illa est insulsa, et non intima, quippe ab inimico proficiscens, qui animam vult adulterare. Cum enim viderit mentem experientia sui sensus studiose gloriari, tunc quibusdam, ut dixi, consolationibus, quae bonae videantur, animam consolatur, ut ab illa molli et humida dulcedine relaxatam, lateat concubitus fraudulentus diaboli. Hinc igitur cognoscemus spiritum veritatis, et spiritum fallaciae. Nemo enim potest divinam gustare suavitatem, aut amarum daemonis sensu experiri, nisi sibi persuaserit gratiam quidem Dei in profundo mentis habitare; malos vero
If the soul is set on fire for the charity of God by a sure motion, and not one made by the mind, as though wishing to draw even the body into the depth of that charity, whether in waking or, as I have said, when it takes sleep, in which divine grace is at work, and thinks of nothing else at all at that time but only this, to which it has been roused, it must know that this is the operation of the Holy Spirit. For, wholly affected by that inexplicable sweetness, it can think of nothing else at that time, since it is flooded with a certain vehement gladness. But if the mind in that operation of grace conceives any doubt whatever, or any foul thought, even though it has used the holy name of Jesus to drive off the evil, and not rather only to kindle the love of God, it must be known that that consolation proceeds from the deceitful demon under a false appearance of gladness; and that gladness is insipid and not inward, since it proceeds from the enemy, who wishes to adulterate the soul. For when he sees the mind eagerly boasting of the experience of its own sense, then with certain consolations, as I have said, which seem good, he consoles the soul, so that, when it has been relaxed by that soft and moist sweetness, the fraudulent intercourse of the devil may escape its notice. Hence, then, we shall know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit. For no one can taste the divine sweetness, or experience by sense the bitterness of the demon, unless he has persuaded himself that the grace of God dwells in the depth of the mind, but that the evil […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1177
Page
- running head: 1177 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1178 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹se cum anima gerendum›; B ‹consolatio, utpote a Deo›; C ‹Si anima certa motione›; D ‹tantum Dei incendendum› (gutter letters, shared with col 1178)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the footnote line printed under this column (notes 15 Psal. LXI, 6; 16 Psal. XVIII, 10; 17 II Cor. V, 7) has no call in col 1177; the notes belong to their calls in col 1178 (DC02).
daemones circum fundum cordis commorari; quod quidem vellent daemones, ut nunquam apud homines crederetur, ne cum mens hoc perfecte cognosceret, recordatione Dei se adversus eos armaret.
[…] demons dwell around the bottom of the heart; which the demons indeed would wish never to be believed among men, lest the mind, knowing this perfectly, should arm itself against them by the remembrance of God.
CAPUT XXXIV.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
De duplici ch⟨a⟩ritate, naturali et spirituali, et de utriusque conditione.
On the twofold charity, natural and spiritual, and on the condition of each.
Alia est naturalis charitas animae, et alia quae ex sancto Spiritu proficiscitur; illa enim cum volumus, nostra motione moderate cietur. Quamobrem facile a daemonibus diripitur, nisi propositum voluntatis nostrae vi teneamus. Haec vero a Spiritu sancto profecta tam vehementer animam ad charitatem Dei inflammat, ut omnes partes animae inexplicabili suavitate divini amoris, in infinita quadam simplicitate affectionis glutinentur. Tunc enim mens, tanquam gravidata spirituali operatione, fontem quemdam charitatis et gaudii profert.
The natural charity of the soul is one thing, and that which proceeds from the Holy Spirit is another; for the former is stirred moderately, when we will it, by our own motion. For this reason it is easily snatched away by the demons, unless we hold the purpose of our will by force. But the latter, proceeding from the Holy Spirit, so vehemently inflames the soul to the charity of God that all the parts of the soul are glued together by the inexplicable sweetness of divine love, in a certain infinite simplicity of affection. For then the mind, as though made pregnant by the spiritual operation, brings forth a kind of fountain of charity and joy.
CAPUT XXXV.
CHAPTER XXXV.
De gratia Dei, quomodo sola omnes animi motus turbidos tranquillet.
On the grace of God: how it alone calms all the turbulent motions of the soul.
Sicut mare, cum turbatur, oleo infuso cedit natura sua tempestas, lenitate olei procellam exstinguente: sic anima nostra, cum lenitur gratia Spiritus sancti, jucunde tranquillatur; cum gaudio enim cedit victa ipsius gratia, sicut ille sanctus ait: Verumtamen Deo subjecta esto, anima mea, victa, inquam, Spiritus sancti gratia, quae ipsam animam inexplicabilis suavitatis umbraculo tegit: idcirco quamvis saepe eam daemones tunc irritent, manet tamen expers irae, et plena gaudii: cui enim gratia advenerit, in eo permanet, si ex metu Dei animam suam sine ulla intermissione jucunditate afficiat; iis enim, qui in vita spirituali certant, speciem quamdam castimoniae affert timor Domini: Timor enim Domini, inquit, castus permanet in saeculum saeculi.
As, when the sea is troubled and oil is poured on it, the storm by its nature gives way, the smoothness of the oil quenching the tempest, so our soul, when it is soothed by the grace of the Holy Spirit, is pleasantly calmed; for it yields with joy, overcome by His grace, as that holy man says: Nevertheless, be subject to God, my soul, overcome, I say, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, which covers the soul itself with the shade of an inexplicable sweetness. Therefore, although the demons then often provoke it, it nevertheless remains free of anger and full of joy; for the grace that has come to someone remains in him, if out of the fear of God he affects his soul with gladness without any interruption; for to those who strive in the spiritual life the fear of the Lord brings a certain kind of chastity: For the fear of the Lord, it says, is chaste, enduring for ever and ever.
CAPUT XXXVI.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Quomodo anima, et quando possit sentire gloriam Dei, et de fallacia diaboli ostendentis lumen, vel aliquid splendoris simile.
How and when the soul can perceive the glory of God; and on the deceit of the devil, who shows a light or something like a radiance.
Nemo, cum sensum mentis audit, speret videre oculis gloriam Dei; sentire enim eum dicimus quodam gustu qui dici non potest, divinae consolationis, cum quis animam purgaverit, non autem, quod appareat ei aliquid eorum quae sub aspectum cadunt, si quidem nunc per fidem, et non per speciem ambulamus, sicut ait beatus Paulus. Si cui igitur eorum, qui certant, vel lumen, vel figura quaepiam ad similitudinem ignis appareat, ne amplectatur hujusmodi visum: est enim fallacia inimici manifesta: quae quidem res multos fefellit, qui propter ignorantiam a via veritatis deflexerunt. Nos autem scimus quod quandiu sumus in hac mortali vita, aliquid coelestium miraculorum ejus videre aspectu corporis non possumus.
Let no one, when he hears of the perception of the mind, hope to see the glory of God with the eyes; for we say that one perceives it by a certain taste of divine consolation that cannot be told, when someone has purified his soul, and not that anything of the things that fall under sight appears to him, since now we walk by faith and not by sight, as blessed Paul says. If, then, a light, or some shape in the likeness of fire, appears to any of those who strive, let him not embrace such a vision: for it is a manifest deceit of the enemy; and this thing has indeed deceived many, who through ignorance have turned aside from the way of truth. But we know that, as long as we are in this mortal life, we cannot see with the sight of the body anything of His heavenly wonders.
Editors' notes and page, col. 1178
Footnotes
(15) ‹Deo subjecta esto, anima mea› · printed under col 1177
Psal. LXI, 6.
Ps. 61:6.
(16) ‹permanet in saeculum saeculi› · printed under col 1177
Psal. XVIII, 10.
Ps. 18:10.
(17) ‹sicut ait beatus Paulus› · printed under col 1177
II Cor. V, 7.
2 Cor. 5:7.
Page
- running head: 1177 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1178 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹daemones circum fundum›; B ‹ad charitatem Dei inflammat›; C ‹victa, inquam, Spiritus›; D ‹oculis gloriam Dei› (gutter, shared with col 1177)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the text runs on from col 1177 without a break-hyphen ("malos vero | daemones"). Caption of cap. XXXIV has damaged type in "ch⟨a⟩ritate".
CAPUT XXXVII.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
De somniis a Deo missis, et a daemone, et de eorum differentia.
On dreams sent by God and by the demon, and on the difference between them.
Visa, quae per somnum bonitate Dei objiciuntur animae, sunt animae sanae certi quodammodo nuntii et indices. Quocirca neque ex alia in aliam formam mutantur, neque sensum terrent, neque uno impetu ridentibus aut moerentibus objiciuntur, sed potius cum omni lenitate accedunt ad animam, quam spiritualis laetitiae dulcedine perfundunt. Unde postquam corpus a somno excitatum est, magno cum desiderio illam somnii laetitiam anima requirit. In visis vero a daemonibus per quietem objectis per omnia contra evenit; nec enim in eadem figura manent; neque figuram, neque formam quietam multo tempore ostendunt. Quod enim daemones ex proposito voluntatis non habent, sed ex sua solum fallacia mutuantur, non possunt diu eo contenti esse; quin potius grandia loquuntur, et plurima minantur, saepenumero in se species militum induentes: aliquando etiam occinunt animae cum clamore. Unde mens eos agnoscens, cum pura est, videtur sibi excitare corpus a somno, et quandoque etiam laetari, quod eorum dolos possit intelligere. Quamobrem in ipso somnio, dum eos arguit, magna ira commovetur. Accidit vero aliquando, ut bona etiam somnia non afferant animae laetitiam, sed potius dolorem quemdam dulcissimum, et lacrymas omnis doloris expertes. Hoc autem in his fieri solet, qui habent magnos progressus in humilitate.
The visions which by the goodness of God are presented to the soul in sleep are, in a certain way, sure messengers and tokens of a healthy soul. Therefore they are neither changed from one form into another, nor do they terrify the sense, nor are they presented in one rush to people laughing or grieving; but rather they approach the soul with all gentleness and pour over it the sweetness of spiritual joy. Hence, after the body has been roused from sleep, the soul seeks again with great longing that joy of the dream. But in the visions presented by the demons during rest everything turns out the contrary; for they do not remain in the same shape, nor do they show a shape or a form at rest for a long time. For what the demons do not have from the purpose of their will, but only borrow from their own deceit, they cannot be content with for long; rather they speak great words and threaten a great deal, often putting on themselves the appearance of soldiers; sometimes too they shout at the soul with an outcry. Hence the mind, recognizing them when it is pure, seems to itself to rouse the body from sleep, and sometimes even to rejoice that it can understand their wiles. For this reason, in the dream itself, while it rebukes them, it is moved with great anger. But it sometimes happens that even good dreams do not bring joy to the soul, but rather a certain most sweet sorrow, and tears free of all pain. This is wont to happen in those who have made great progress in humility.
CAPUT XXXVIII.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
De virtute non credendi ullis somniis.
On the virtue of not believing any dreams.
Diximus, sicut ab iis qui experti sunt, audivimus, bonorum et malorum somniorum (differentiam, satis nobis sit pro magna virtute habere, ut nullis omnino per somnum visis credamus. Somnia enim nihil aliud sunt, ut plurimum, quam simulacra cogitationum errantium, aut rursus, ut dixi, daemonum ludificationes; demum quamvis a Deo quandoque mi⟨s⟩sum sit visum, neque admittamus, tamen non irascetur nobis ob hanc causam, ille summe misericors; scit enim hoc a nobis fieri propter fallaces insidias daemonum: atque haec quidem est, quam diximus, perfecta somniorum distinctio. Contingit vero ut ex subreptione quadam sensum fugiente (quod nemo, ut arbitror, qui effugiat, reperiatur), anima foedetur, amisso vestigio perfecte discernendi, et fide somniis non bonis tanquam bonis adhibita.
We have stated, as we have heard from those who have experienced it, the difference between good and evil dreams; let it suffice us to hold it as a great virtue that we believe no visions in sleep at all. For dreams are nothing else, for the most part, than images of wandering thoughts, or again, as I have said, the mockeries of demons; and finally, even if a vision is sometimes sent by God and we do not admit it, yet He, the supremely merciful, will not be angry with us for this reason; for He knows that this is done by us because of the deceitful snares of the demons: and this indeed is the perfect discernment of dreams of which we have spoken. But it happens that through a certain stealthy encroachment that escapes the senses (from which no one, I think, is found to escape), the soul is defiled, having lost the track of perfect discernment, and having given credence to dreams that are not good as though they were good.
CAPUT XXXIX.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Exemplum ad intelligendum, quomodo nemini exprobret Deus, quod somnio ab eo misso non credat.
An example for understanding how God does not reproach anyone for not believing a dream sent by Him.
Sit igitur vobis exemplum hujus rei famulus, quem reversus dominus noctu, post longam peregrinationem, ante vestibulum domus evocet, cui famulus nullo modo aperire velit: metuit enim ne se similitudo vocis fallat, et rerum, quas dominus
Let this, then, be an example of the matter for you: a servant whom his master, returning by night after a long journey abroad, calls from before the entrance of the house, and to whom the servant is quite unwilling to open; for he fears lest the likeness of the voice deceive him, and [lest the likeness] of the things which the master […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1179
Page
- running head: 1179 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1180 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹CAPUT XXXVII.›; B ‹tam multo tempore ostendunt›; C ‹sus in humilitate›; D ‹tinctio. Contingit› (gutter, shared with col 1180)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: footnotes 18 and 19 printed under this column are called in col 1180 and set there. In "mi⟨s⟩sum" one s has dropped out (visible gap). A mark like an opening parenthesis stands before "differentiam" with no closing mark; set as printed and listed as a misprint.
commisit, proditorem faciat; cui quidem non est iratus dominus postera die, quin potius multis laudibus ab eo dignatus est, quod vocem domini, fallaciam existimavit, dum nihil ex bonis domini perdere voluit.
[…] entrusted to him, make him a betrayer; with him the master was not angry the next day, but rather deemed him worthy of much praise, because he took his master's voice for a deception, since he wished to lose nothing of his master's goods.
CAPUT XL.
CHAPTER XL.
Quando anima possit lumen, quod in se habet, videre; et quando se Satanas transfiguret in angelum lucis; et quid potissimum in vita monastica studendum sit, ut quamvis in mundo simus peregrinemur a mundo.
When the soul can see the light that it has within itself; and when Satan transforms himself into an angel of light; and what above all is to be striven for in the monastic life, so that, though we are in the world, we may be strangers to the world.
Non est dubitandum, quin mens, cum coeperit divinum lumen in ea operari, tota fiat perspicua, ita ut lumen id, quod in se habet, abunde videat. Hoc vero tunc fit, cum potestas animae dominatur in perturbationes. Quod autem quidquid menti in figura apparet, sive lumen, sive ignis sit, ex callido artificio inimici proficiscitur, docet nos divinus Paulus, cum ait transfigurari eum in angelum lucis. Non igitur oportet, ut hac spe ullus monasticam vitam capessat, ne hic inveniat Satanas animam facilem ad rapiendum eam ad se, sed ut solummodo tales evadamus, qui in omni statu et plenitudine cordis Deum amemus: quod quidem est amare ex toto corde, et ex tota anima, et ex tota mente. In quo enim hoc gratia Dei operatur, peregrinatur a mundo, quamvis in mundo sit.
There is no doubt that the mind, when the divine light has begun to work in it, becomes wholly transparent, so that it sees abundantly the light which it has within itself. And this happens when the power of the soul has mastery over the passions. But that whatever appears to the mind in a shape, whether it be light or fire, proceeds from the cunning artifice of the enemy, the divine Paul teaches us when he says that he transforms himself into an angel of light. No one, therefore, ought to take up the monastic life in this hope, lest Satan find here a soul easy for him to snatch to himself; but only that we may become such as love God in every state and with fullness of heart: which is indeed to love with the whole heart, and with the whole soul, and with the whole mind. For he in whom the grace of God works this is a stranger to the world, although he is in the world.
CAPUT XLI.
CHAPTER XLI.
De obedientia, quomodo sit maxima virtutum, et janua charitatis, et vias caeterarum virtutum demonstret.
On obedience: how it is the greatest of the virtues, and the door of charity, and shows the ways of the other virtues.
Obedientiam esse omnium virtutum introducentium principem, exploratum est; repudiat enim arrogantiam, parit autem nobis humilitatem. Unde janua atque aditus charitatis in Deum efficitur iis qui libenter eam amplectuntur. Hanc cum Adam abjecisset, decidit in profundum tartarum: hanc cum amasset Dominus causa redemptionis, usque ad crucem Patri obedivit: idque cum nulla ex parte infra illius amplitudinem esset, ut cum crimen humanae inobedientiae sua obedientia diluisset, eos, qui obedientes essent, ad beatam et immortalem vitam reduceret. Primum igitur hujus virtutis curam habere oportet eos, qui studium certandi cum superbia diaboli suscipiunt: haec enim deinceps progressa, omnes vias virtutum nobis sine ullo errore demonstrabit.
It is well established that obedience is the chief of all the virtues that lead us in; for it rejects arrogance and gives birth in us to humility. Hence it becomes a door and entrance of charity towards God for those who willingly embrace it. When Adam had cast it away, he fell into the depth of Tartarus; the Lord, having loved it for the sake of our redemption, obeyed the Father even to the cross, and that although it was in no way beneath His greatness, so that, having washed away by His obedience the crime of human disobedience, He might lead back to the blessed and immortal life those who should be obedient. First, therefore, those who undertake the endeavour of contending with the pride of the devil must take care of this virtue: for it, advancing further, will show us all the ways of the virtues without any error.
CAPUT XLII.
CHAPTER XLII.
Quomodo oporteat continentiam esse in omnibus, ita ut non solum virtutes corporis comparandae sint, sed virtutes, quae hominem interiorem purgent.
How continence must be in all things, so that not only the virtues of the body are to be acquired, but the virtues that purify the inner man.
Commune est omnium virtutum contiuentiae cognomentum, oportet igitur certantem in omnibus rebus se continere. Sicut enim quocunque demum membro hominis, vel minutissimo adempto, totnm corpus, quamvis sit parva pars quae desit toti figurae, informe efficitur; sic qui vel unam virtutem neglexerit, universum continentiae decorum dissolvit ac delet nesciens. Oportet igitur non solum
The name of continence is common to all the virtues; therefore he who contends must restrain himself in all things. For just as, when any member of a man whatever, even the smallest, is taken away, the whole body becomes misshapen, although it is a small part that is lacking to the whole figure; so he who neglects even one virtue unknowingly dissolves and destroys the whole beauty of continence. It is needful, therefore, not only […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1180
Footnotes
(18) ‹transfigurari eum in angelum lucis› · printed under col 1179
II Cor. XI, 14.
2 Cor. 11:14.
(19) ‹ex tota mente› · printed under col 1179
Luc. X, 27.
Luke 10:27.
Page
- running head: 1179 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1180 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹commisit, proditorem faciat›; B ‹figura apparet›; C ‹Obedientiam esse›; D ‹deinceps progressa› (gutter, shared with col 1179)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column ends with "so-" hyphenated across the break; the word ("solum") is set whole here. Misprints "contiuentiae" and "totnm" (turned n/u) set as printed.
virtutes corporis studiose excolere, sed eas etiam quae hominem interiorem purgare possunt. Quid enim profuerit virginitatem corporis servare, si anima a daemone inobedientiae praeside adulteratur? Aut quomodo coronabitur, qui se a gulae vitio et omni corporis cupiditate continuerit, superbiam tamen et studium gloriae declinare non studuerit, neque brevem laborem toleraverit? idque cum a justitiae lance rependendum sit lumen justitiae iis qui opera justitiae in spiritu humilitatis fecerunt.
[…] to cultivate zealously the virtues of the body, but also those which can purify the inner man. For what will it profit to keep the virginity of the body, if the soul is adulterated by the demon who presides over disobedience? Or how will he be crowned who has restrained himself from the vice of gluttony and from every desire of the body, yet has not been zealous to shun pride and the pursuit of glory, nor has endured a brief labour? And that, since by the scale of justice the light of justice is to be paid back to those who have done the works of justice in the spirit of humility.
CAPUT XLIII.
CHAPTER XLIII.
De utilitate et modo servandi continentiam in victu.
On the usefulness and the manner of keeping continence in food.
Sic igitur oportet in omnes cupiditates ejus partis animae, quae ratione caret, odium exercere eos qui spiritualiter certant, ut in habitum illud vertant. Continentiam vero in victu ita oportet servare, ut nemo aliquid cibi detestetur, hoc enim exsecrabile est, et daemonis inventum. Non enim a cibis tanquam malis abstinemus, absit! sed ut a copioso et inutili victu nos refrenantes, partes corporis effervescentes moderate castigemus; deinde, ut ex eo, quod nobis superat, pauperibus quantum sufficiat, dispensetur, in quo quidem sincera charitas cernitur.
Thus, then, those who contend spiritually must exercise hatred against all the desires of that part of the soul which lacks reason, so that they turn it into a habit. But continence in food must be kept in such a way that no one detests any food, for this is accursed and an invention of the demon. For we do not abstain from foods as though they were evil, far from it! but so that, restraining ourselves from abundant and useless eating, we may moderately chastise the seething parts of the body; and then, so that out of what is left over to us as much as suffices may be distributed to the poor, in which indeed sincere charity is seen.
CAPUT XLIV.
CHAPTER XLIV.
Quomodo effici possit ut ciborum jucunditas, et caeterae voluptates libenter respuantur.
How it can be brought about that the pleasantness of foods and the other pleasures are willingly rejected.
Vesci omnibus cum gratiarum actione, quae ad vescendum et bibendum adhibentur, non pugnat cum regula scientiae: Omnia enim, inquit, erant valde bona. Abstinere autem libenter a suavi et a multo cibo, maximae discretionis et scientiae est, tametsi, quae in hac vita jucunda et dulcia sunt, nunquam possimus jucunde respuere, nisi Dei dulcedinem in omni sensu cordis ac omni plenitudine ejus degustemus.
To eat with thanksgiving of all the things that are provided for eating and drinking does not conflict with the rule of knowledge: For all things, it says, were very good. But to abstain willingly from sweet food and from much food belongs to the greatest discretion and knowledge; although we can never gladly reject the things that are pleasant and sweet in this life unless we taste the sweetness of God in every sense of the heart and in all its fullness.
CAPUT XLV.
CHAPTER XLV.
De nimia continentia victus fugienda propter firmitatem corporis, qua opus sit ad certamen spirituale.
That excessive continence in food is to be avoided, on account of the strength of body which is needed for the spiritual contest.
Ut corpus multo cibo onustum, languidam et segnem efficit mentem, sic nimia continentia victus debilitatum facit, ut ea pars animae, quae in contemplatione versatur, in moestitia sit, et in fastidio sermonis. Oportet igitur ad motiones corporis cibos etiam accommodare, ut, dum corpus valet, quantum conveniat castigetur; dum vero non valet, moderate leniatur. Nec enim infirmo corpore esse debet, qui certat, sed ita firmo, ut sustinendo certamini par esse possit, ut anima etiam laboribus corporis convenienter purgari queat.
As the body weighed down with much food makes the mind languid and sluggish, so excessive continence in food makes [the body] weakened, so that that part of the soul which is occupied in contemplation is in sadness and in weariness of discourse. One must therefore adjust one's food also to the motions of the body, so that while the body is strong it may be chastised as much as is fitting, but while it is not strong it may be moderately relieved. For he who contends ought not to be of an infirm body, but of a body so firm that he can be equal to sustaining the contest, so that the soul too may be fittingly purified by the labours of the body.
CAPUT XLVI.
CHAPTER XLVI.
De ratione victus soliti temperanda, sine vitio vanae gloriae aut incontinentiae, per moderatam indulgentiam ad adventum fratrum, aut aliorum hospitum.
On tempering one's accustomed manner of eating, without the vice of vainglory or of incontinence, by a moderate indulgence at the arrival of brethren or of other guests.
Cum inanis gloria adversus nos tumescit, nacta ad vitii sui excusationem adventum fratrum aut aliorum hospitum, quicunque illi sint, recte fiat,
When vainglory swells against us, having found as an excuse for its vice the arrival of brethren or of other guests, whoever they may be, it is right [that] […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1181
Footnotes
(20) ‹erant valde bona› · printed under col 1181
Gen. I, 31.
Gen. 1:31.
Page
- running head: 1181 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1182 (across the page; left half read)
- marginal letters: A ‹lum virtutes corporis›; B ‹tant. Continentiam vero›; C ‹valde bona›; D ‹bos etiam accommodare› (gutter, shared with col 1182)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with the end of "solum", hyphenated from col 1180 and set whole there.
si rationem soliti victus aliquantulum temperemus. Sic enim daemonem infectis rebus, imo de suo irrito conatu dolentem dimittemus, ac legem charitatis cordati implebimus, et mysterium continentiae sine ostentatione per illam moderatam indulgentiam servabimus.
[…] if we temper a little the manner of our accustomed eating. For thus we shall send the demon away with his business undone, indeed grieving over his vain attempt, and we shall wisely fulfil the law of charity, and through that moderate indulgence we shall keep the mystery of continence without ostentation.
CAPUT XLVII.
CHAPTER XLVII.
De jejunio et caeteris virtutibus corporalibus, quomodo sint instrumenta quaedam, quae per se sola non habeant gloriam apud Deum, nisi referantur ad finem, qui est pietas.
On fasting and the other bodily virtues: how they are certain instruments, which by themselves alone have no glory with God unless they are directed to the end, which is piety.
Habet quidem per se gloriam jejunium, sed non apud Deum; est enim instrumentum, quod ad temperantiam componit eos qui volunt. Non oportet igitur eo gloriari, qui Christianae religionis pugiles sumus, sed solum in fide Dei finem propositi nostri exspectare: nec enim cujuscunque artis periti de artificio quod profitentur, ex instrumentis gloriantur, quin potius quisque eorum formam suscepti operis exspectat, ut inde perfectum illud et absolutum artis suae demonstret.
Fasting has glory of itself, but not with God; for it is an instrument which trains in temperance those who are willing. We, therefore, who are champions of the Christian religion ought not to glory in it, but only to await in faith in God the end of our purpose: for neither do those skilled in any art whatever glory in their tools concerning the craft which they profess; rather each of them awaits the finished form of the work undertaken, so as to display from it the perfection and completeness of his art.
CAPUT XLVIII.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
De utilitate temperati victus ad fructum spiritualem animae.
On the usefulness of temperate eating for the spiritual fruit of the soul.
Sicut terra si moderate sit irrigata, semen sparsum, quod excipit, cum multa fertilitate effundit; multis vero imbribus madefacta spinas tantum et tribulos fert: sic terra cordis, si moderato utamur victu, semina sibi innata atque insita pura edit; et illa quae sunt ab Spiritu sancto seminata, cum multa viriditate et ubertate fructuum profert; sin vero potu madeat, ex omnibus cogitationibus suis spinas et tribulos procreat.
As the earth, if it is moderately watered, pours forth with great fertility the scattered seed which it receives, but when soaked by many rains bears only thorns and thistles, so the earth of the heart, if we use moderate eating, brings forth pure the seeds born and implanted in it, and brings forth with great greenness and abundance of fruits those that have been sown by the Holy Spirit; but if it is soaked with drink, it produces thorns and thistles from all its thoughts.
CAPUT XLIX.
CHAPTER XLIX.
De i⟨n⟩temperantia victus, quomodo ad libidinem provocet; et de remedio et ejus ratione.
On intemperance in eating: how it provokes to lust; and on the remedy and its method.
Cum mens nostra in fluctu largi potus natat, non solum libidinose intuetur simulacra quae per somnum daemones figurant, sed in se ipsa quasdam formas pulchras fingens, visis suis tanquam quibusdam adamatis utitur ardenter. Tepefactis enim fervore vini illis partibus corporis, quae ad generandum datae sunt, necesse est omnino ut mens sibi umbram libidinis cum voluptate repraesentet. Opus ergo est, ut moderatione victus utentes, incommodum, quod ex redundantia pr⟨o⟩ficiscitur, vitemus. Cum enim mens voluptatem qua ad pingendum peccatum illecta succendatur non habet, tota manet sine imaginationibus, et judicium forte ac virile.
When our mind swims in the flood of abundant drink, it not only gazes lustfully at the images which the demons shape in sleep, but, fashioning within itself certain beautiful forms, it makes ardent use of its own visions as of things passionately loved. For when those parts of the body which were given for generation are warmed by the heat of wine, it is altogether inevitable that the mind should present to itself the shadow of lust with pleasure. There is need, therefore, that by using moderation in eating we avoid the harm that proceeds from excess. For when the mind has no pleasure by which, enticed, it may be kindled to picture sin, it remains wholly without imaginings, and [its] judgement strong and manly.
CAPUT L.
CHAPTER L.
De luxuria misti potus, et quantopere ea quae cum vino miscentur, fugienda sint ab iis qui volunt esse spirituales.
On the luxury of mixed drink, and how greatly the things that are mixed with wine are to be shunned by those who wish to be spiritual.
Omnia poculenta arte facta quae eorum artifices propomata, quasi antepocula vocant, quod multitudinem ciborum ad ventrem deducant, declinare oportet eos qui partes corporis turgescentes cohibere volunt: non solum enim eorum qualitas corporibus
All beverages made by art, which their makers call propomata, as it were "fore-drinks", because they draw a multitude of foods down to the belly, must be avoided by those who wish to restrain the swelling parts of the body: for not only does their quality, to bodies, […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1182
Page
- running head: 1181 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1182 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹si rationem soliti›; B ‹nostri exspectare›; C ‹cum multa viriditate›; D ‹commodum, quod ex redundantia› (gutter, shared with col 1181)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column ends with "cor-" hyphenated across the break; the word ("corporibus") is set whole here, completed from the top of col 1183. Damaged type: "i⟨n⟩temperantia" (caption of cap. XLIX; the n has dropped out) and "pr⟨o⟩ficiscitur" (the o is broken to a c-shape; read as damaged type, not a misprint).
pusillum nocet, sed ipsa eorum perversa temperatio conscientiam, quae est sedes Dei, percutit. Quid enim in natura vini desideratur, ut variis condimentis permistis, vini firmitudo mollitie frangenda sit?
[…] do a little harm, but their perverse blending itself strikes the conscience, which is the seat of God. For what is lacking in the nature of wine, that the strength of wine should be broken by softness, with various seasonings mixed in?
CAPUT LI.
CHAPTER LI.
Quid Dominus docere voluerit, bibendo in cruce acetum ex spongia circumposita hyssopo.
What the Lord wished to teach by drinking on the cross vinegar from a sponge set about with hyssop.
Dominus noster, idemque vitae sanctae magister Jesus Christus acetum in Passione ab iis qui diabolo ministrabant, porrectum bibit, ut perspicuam normam, quemadmodum in sacro certamine animo affecti esse debeamus, ut mihi videtur, relinqueret. Non enim, inquit, oportet jucundis potionibus aut cibis uti eos qui adversus peccatum dimicant, imo acerbitatem pugnae toleranter sustinere. Adjunctum vero est in illa contumelia hyssopum ad spongiam, ut forma nostrae purgationis exemplo perfecte repraesentaretur. Illud enim acre proprium est certaminis; vis vero tergendi, perfectionis.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is also the Master of the holy life, drank in His Passion the vinegar held out to Him by those who were serving the devil, so as to leave us, as it seems to me, a clear rule of how we ought to be disposed in mind in the sacred contest. For, He says, those who fight against sin ought not to use pleasant drinks or foods, but rather to endure patiently the bitterness of the battle. And in that insult hyssop was added to the sponge, so that the form of our purification might be perfectly represented by the example. For the sharpness belongs to the contest; but the power of cleansing, to perfection.
CAPUT LII.
CHAPTER LII.
De balneatione fugienda spiritualibus, et quare.
That bathing is to be shunned by spiritual men, and why.
Conferre se ad balneum, nemo peccatum, aut a ratione alienum esse dixerit; propter continentiam tamen ab eo se abstinere, et virile et maxime temperantis esse dico. Nec enim illa voluptaria lavatio corpus nostrum emolliet, nec veniet in mentem illius turpis nuditatis Adam, ut de illius foliis ad tegendam secundam nuditatem turpitudinis solliciti simus, ii praesertim, qui paulo ante ab hujus vitae corruptione per castitatem corporis nostri exsilientes, cum pulchritudine temperantiae copulati esse debemus.
No one would say that to betake oneself to the bath is a sin, or contrary to reason; yet to abstain from it for the sake of continence I call both manly and the mark of the most temperate man. For then that pleasurable washing will not soften our body, nor will that shameful nakedness of Adam come to mind, so that we should be anxious about his leaves for covering a second nakedness of shame, we above all who, having a little before leapt away from the corruption of this life through the chastity of our body, ought to be joined to the beauty of temperance.
CAPUT LIII.
CHAPTER LIII.
Quare opus sit in coenobiis vocare medicum ad curationem morbi; et quid faciendum sit iis qui solitariam in eremo degunt vitam.
Why there is need in the monasteries to call a physician for the cure of sickness; and what is to be done by those who lead a solitary life in the desert.
Medicos vocare cum non valemus, nihil prohibet. Etenim quia erat aliquando experimento humano colligenda ars medicinae, idcirco prius exstiterunt medicamenta ac remedia. Verum non oportet spem sanationis in illis collocare, sed potius in vero Salvatore, et medico nostro Jesu Christo. Haec vero illis, qui in coenobiis et civitatibus propositum continentiae excolunt, dico, tum quia propter circumstantias, quae accidunt, non possunt sine ulla intermissione fidem per charitatem operari; tum etiam, ne in cupiditatem inanis gloriae, et in tentationem diaboli incidant. Ex quorum numero nonnulli se non egere medicis coram multis profitentur; at si quis vitam anachoreticam, id est ab oculis hominum remotam in locis desertis, inter duos aut tres unius moris fratres degit, quibuscunque ille morbis conflictetur, applicet se in fide ad Dominum, qui sanat omnem morbum et omnem languorem. Habent enim post Dominum, satis magnum solatium aegritudinum, ipsam solitudinem.
Nothing forbids us to call physicians when we are not well. For since the art of medicine was at some time to be gathered by human experience, for that reason medicines and remedies came into being first. But one ought not to place the hope of healing in them, but rather in the true Saviour and our Physician, Jesus Christ. This I say to those who cultivate the purpose of continence in monasteries and cities, both because, on account of the circumstances that befall them, they cannot work faith through charity without any interruption, and also lest they fall into the desire of vainglory and into the temptation of the devil. Of their number some declare before many that they have no need of physicians; but if anyone leads the anchoritic life, that is, one removed from the eyes of men in desert places, among two or three brethren of one way of life, with whatever sicknesses he may be afflicted, let him apply himself in faith to the Lord, Who heals every sickness and every infirmity. For they have, after the Lord, a great enough consolation in their illnesses: solitude itself.
Editors' notes and page, col. 1183
Page
- running head: 1183 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1184 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹poribus pusillum nocet›; B ‹imo acerbitatem pugnae›; C ‹simus, ii praesertim›; D ‹tum continentiae excolunt› (gutter, shared with col 1184)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with the end of "corporibus", hyphenated from col 1182 and set whole there. Footnote 21, printed under this column, is called in col 1184 and set there.
Unde neque ab exercitatione fidei unquam vacat iste, eo maxime, quo non reperiat ibi locum ostendandi virtutem tolerantiae, pulchro usus tanquam velo, solitudine: idcirco Dominus habitare facit unius moris in domo.
Hence such a man is never free from the exercise of faith, above all because he finds there no occasion for displaying the virtue of endurance, using solitude as a fair veil: that is why the Lord makes those of one way of life to dwell in a house.
CAPUT LIV.
CHAPTER LIV.
Quid indicet ferre moleste morbum, et quid rursus non ferre moleste.
What it indicates to bear sickness with vexation, and what, on the other hand, not to bear it with vexation.
Cum morbos corporis moleste ferimus, scire oportet adhuc cupiditates corporis in anima dominari: ex quo fit, ut desiderio corporalis indulgentiae nolit a bonis vitae hujus recedere: quin potius magnum negotium esse putat, non posse propter morbos frui iis, quae in vita sunt pulchra. Rursus vero si angores aegritudinum animo grato excipiat, argumentum est, non procul ab indolentia, id est, a vacuitate turbidarum affectionum abesse: unde et mortem, tanquam occasionem vitae verioris tunc magno cum gaudio exspectat.
When we bear the sicknesses of the body with vexation, we must know that the desires of the body still hold sway in the soul: whence it comes about that, through desire of bodily indulgence, it is unwilling to depart from the good things of this life; rather it thinks it a great affliction not to be able, because of sickness, to enjoy the things that are fair in life. But on the other hand, if it receives the distresses of illness with a grateful mind, it is a proof that it is not far from impassibility, that is, from freedom from the turbulent affections: whence it then awaits even death with great joy, as the occasion of a truer life.
CAPUT LV.
CHAPTER LV.
Quid faciendum sit, ut non delectetur anima usura hujus lucis, sed potius desideret a corpore separari.
What is to be done so that the soul may not delight in the enjoyment of this light, but rather desire to be separated from the body.
Nunquam cupiet anima a corpore separari, nisi ita affecta sit, ut nulla hujus aeris quem spiramus, voluptate capiatur. Omnes enim sensus corporis adversantur fidei, siquidem sensus sunt praesentium, fides vero bonorum tantum futurorum copiam et magnificentiam promittit. Quocirca opus est pugilem spiritualem, neque arbores pulchris diffusas ramis ad opacandum, neque elegantes aedes, neque consuetudinem cognatorum unquam cogitare: neque de gloria, et celebritate honorum, si ita accidat, meminisse, sed potius uti quidem necessariis cum gratiarum actione; vitam vero hanc existimare viam quamdam peregrinam, et omni oblectatione carnis vacuam. Sic enim mentem nostram in arctum cogentes, totam ipsam ad vestigia aeternae viae convertemus.
The soul will never long to be separated from the body unless it is so disposed that it is captivated by no pleasure of this air which we breathe. For all the senses of the body are opposed to faith, since the senses are of present things, while faith promises the abundance and magnificence of good things that are only to come. Therefore the spiritual champion must never think of trees spread out with fair branches to give shade, nor of elegant houses, nor of the company of his kinsfolk; nor must he remember glory and the renown of honours, if it so happens, but rather use necessary things, indeed, with thanksgiving, and regard this life as a road in a strange land, empty of every delight of the flesh. For thus, drawing our mind into a narrow compass, we shall turn the whole of it to the footsteps of the eternal road.
CAPUT LVI.
CHAPTER LVI.
Quomodo uti sensibus corporis immoderate, faciat difficilem memoriam Dei, et mandatorum ejus; et quomodo cavendum sit hoc malum.
How the immoderate use of the senses of the body makes difficult the remembrance of God and of His commandments; and how this evil is to be guarded against.
Quod aspectus, et gustus, et reliqui sensus memoriam cordis distrahunt, cum ipsis immoderate usi sumus, Eva hoc nobis prima confitetur: tantisper enim dum illa libenter ad arborem interdictam non aspexit, memoriam divini jussi studiose retinebat. Quamobrem veluti alis divini amoris tegebatur, unde nuditatem suam ignorabat. Postquam vero lignum libenti animo vidit, ac valde cupide fructum ejus attrectavit, et cum vehementi gustavit voluptate, continuo ad complexum corporis delinita est, adjungens se libidini ut nuda, totamque suam cupiditatem ad fruendum praesentibus tradidit, postquam Adamum cum peccato suo propter fructum aspectu jucundum miscuit, ex quo factum est, ut deinceps mens humana Dei, aut mandatorum
That sight and taste and the other senses distract the memory of the heart when we use them immoderately, Eve first confesses this to us: for as long as she did not look willingly at the forbidden tree, she kept the memory of the divine command zealously. Therefore she was covered as with the wings of divine love, and hence she did not know her nakedness. But after she looked at the tree with a willing mind, and very eagerly handled its fruit, and tasted it with vehement pleasure, she was at once charmed into the embrace of the body, joining herself to lust as one naked, and she gave over her whole desire to the enjoyment of present things, after she had drawn Adam into her sin because of the fruit pleasant to the sight; from which it came about that thenceforth the human mind […] God, or the commandments […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1184
Footnotes
(21) ‹unius moris in domo› · printed under col 1183
Psal. LXVII, 7.
Ps. 67:7.
Page
- running head: 1183 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1184 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹Unde neque ab exercitatione›; B ‹piat, argumentum est›; C ‹diffusas ramis›; D ‹usi sumus, Eva› (gutter, shared with col 1183)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: misprint "ostendandi" set as printed.
ejus difficile meminisse posset. Degamus igitur nos in hac vita fallace, semper in profundum cordis nostri cum perpetua Dei memoria, tanquam oculis capti intuentes; profecto enim ad spirituale studium virtutis pertinet, adimere semper alas desiderio earum rerum, quas videmus, quod nos Job ille experientissimus docet, cum ait: Si secutum est cor meum oculum meum. Quae res summae continentiae est index.
[…] of Him could remember only with difficulty. Let us therefore pass our days in this deceitful life always gazing, as though deprived of our eyes, into the depth of our heart with the perpetual remembrance of God; for it surely belongs to the spiritual pursuit of virtue always to clip the wings of desire for the things that we see, as that most experienced Job teaches us when he says: If my heart has followed my eye. And this is the token of the highest continence.
CAPUT LVII.
CHAPTER LVII.
Quomodo, qui ambulat spiritu, nescit desideria carnis; ac frustra daemon ejus castitatem tentet.
How he who walks by the spirit does not know the desires of the flesh; and [how] in vain the demon tempts his chastity.
Qui versatur semper in corde suo, absens prorsus a jucundis rebus vitae hujus peregrinatur; qui enim ambulat spiritu, non potest desideria carnis nosse: quandoquidem jam deinceps in arce virtutum suas ambulationes conficit, utiturque iis ipsis virtutibus, veluti janitricibus castimoniae, quae est instar civitatis parvae; ex quo fit, ut in hoc irritae sint machinae daemonum, quamvis usque ad fenestras naturae tela vulgaris amoris pertingant.
He who dwells always in his own heart lives as a stranger, altogether absent from the pleasant things of this life; for he who walks by the spirit cannot know the desires of the flesh: since from now on he makes his walks in the citadel of the virtues, and uses those very virtues as the doorkeepers of chastity, which is like a small city; whence it comes about that against him the engines of the demons are in vain, although the darts of common love reach as far as the windows of nature.
CAPUT LVIII.
CHAPTER LVIII.
De acedia, quae solet aliquando post repudiatas voluptates corporis contingere, qualis sit, et quomodo expellenda.
On acedia, which is wont sometimes to occur after the pleasures of the body have been rejected: what it is like, and how it is to be driven out.
Cum coeperit anima nostra non amplius ea quae pulchra et jucunda sunt, concupiscere, tunc eam desidiosa quaedam mens ut plurimum subit, quae neque officio sermonis eam sinit libenter servire; neque expeditum desiderium futurorum bonorum ei relinquit: imo et hanc caducam vitam ceu valde inutilem habet, ut non habentem opus virtutis dignum: ipsamque cognitionem pro nihilo ducit, tanquam aliis quoque multis tributa sit; aut nihil perfectum nobis significare promittat. Hanc autem tepiditatis et torporis aegritudinem fugiemus, si menti nostrae valde angustos meatus definiemus, ut solum Dei memor sit: hac enim solummodo ratione ad suum reversa fervorem, poterit rursus ab illa per segnitiem distractione sine dolore removeri.
When our soul has begun no longer to desire the things that are fair and pleasant, then for the most part a certain slothful mood comes upon it, which neither lets it serve the office of discourse willingly, nor leaves it a ready desire for the good things to come: rather it holds even this perishable life as very useless, as having no work worthy of virtue; and it counts knowledge itself as nothing, as though it had been granted to many others too, or as though it promised to signify nothing perfect to us. But we shall escape this sickness of tepidity and torpor if we mark out very narrow channels for our mind, so that it is mindful of God alone: for only in this way, having returned to its own fervour, will it be able to be withdrawn again without pain from that distraction through sluggishness.
CAPUT LIX.
CHAPTER LIX.
Quomodo mens reddi possit certa de studio et diligentia sua in spirituali certamine per memoriam continuam et ferventem nominis Jesu in profundo cordis.
How the mind can be made certain of its zeal and diligence in the spiritual contest through continual and fervent remembrance of the name of Jesus in the depth of the heart.
Cum omnes mentis exitus memoria Dei occluserimus, omnibus modis a nobis requirit ipsa mens opus ex quo diligentiam suam plene nosse debeat. Oportet igitur tradere ei illud solum: Domine Jesu Christe, ad integram et solidam propositi tractationem. Nemo enim, inquit, dicit, Domine Jesu, nisi in Spiritu sancto. Verum ita arcte verbum istud in intimo suo recessu omni tempore contempletur, ut ad nullas imaginationes adduci possit.
When we have shut all the exits of the mind by the remembrance of God, the mind itself requires of us by all means a work by which it may fully know its own diligence. We must therefore give it this alone: Lord Jesus Christ, for the entire and solid pursuit of its purpose. For no one, it says, says Lord Jesus except in the Holy Spirit. But let it contemplate that word at all times so closely in its own inmost recess that it cannot be drawn to any imaginings.
Editors' notes and page, col. 1185
Footnotes
(22) ‹cor meum oculum meum› · printed under col 1185 (full-width footnote lines under cols 1185–1186)
Job XXXI, 7.
Job 31:7.
(23) ‹nisi in Spiritu sancto› · printed under col 1185 (full-width footnote lines)
I Cor. XII, 3.
1 Cor. 12:3.
Page
- running head: 1185 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1186 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹ejus difficile meminisse›; B ‹nosse: quandoquidem›; C ‹neque expeditum desiderium›; D ‹continuam et ferventem› (gutter, shared with col 1186)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the printed column number looks like 1183 (3 and 5 alike in this type); 1185 by sequence. Notes 24–27 printed on the same footnote lines are called in col 1186.
Quicunque enim sanctum et gloriosum nomen hoc in profundo cordis continenter meditantur, hi etiam lumen mentis suae semper videre possunt. Cum enim arcta sollicitudine illud in mente retinetur, sordes quae in anima apparent, cum multo sensu exurit, Deus enim, inquit, ignis consumens est. Unde animam deinceps ad amorem gloriae suae vehementer incitat Dominus. Illud enim gloriosum et optabilissimum nomen, si diutius in memoria mentis cum fervore cordis habeatur, habitum plane bonitatem ejus amandi in nobis, nullo impedimento obsistente, gignit. Haec est enim pretiosa margarita, quam qui omnem substantiam suam vendiderit, comparare potest, et laetitiam majorem, quam dici possit, de inventione habere.
For whoever meditate continually on this holy and glorious name in the depth of the heart can also always see the light of their own mind. For when it is held in the mind with close care, it burns up, with much perception, the filth that appears in the soul; for God, it says, is a consuming fire. Hence the Lord thereafter vehemently stirs the soul to the love of His glory. For that glorious and most desirable name, if it is held for a long time in the memory of the mind with fervour of heart, begets in us a settled habit of loving His goodness, with no hindrance standing in the way. For this is the precious pearl which he who has sold all his substance can purchase, and have joy greater than can be told at its finding.
CAPUT LX.
CHAPTER LX.
De duplici gaudio, inchoante et perficiente, et usu utriusque et de lacrymis mediis inter utrumque.
On the twofold joy, the beginning and the perfecting, and on the use of each, and on the tears midway between the two.
Aliud est gaudium inchoans, et aliud perficiens: illud quidem non est imaginationibus vacuum; hoc vero vim habet humilitat⟨i⟩s: his autem interjecta est tristitia Deo amica, et lacrymae sine dolore. Etenim quia in multitudine sapientiae multitudo, inquit, cognitionis, et qui addit cognitionem, addit dolorem. Idcirco opus est, ut primum quidem gaudio inchoante ad certamen spirituale anima provocetur; deinde, ut a varietate Spiritus sancti arguatur, et probetur, tum in iis, quae prave egit, tum in iis quae adhuc agit: in redargutionibus enim, inquit, super iniquitate corripuisti hominem, et tabescere fecisti sicut araneam animam ejus: ut cum divina reprehensio tanquam in ardenti fornace animam probarit, tunc operationem gaudii sine imaginationibus cum fervida Christi memoria capiat.
The beginning joy is one thing, and the perfecting joy another: the former is not free of imaginings; but the latter has the force of humility: and between them is set the sorrow that is dear to God, and tears without pain. For in much wisdom, it says, is much knowledge, and he who adds knowledge adds sorrow. Therefore it is needful, first, that the soul be summoned to the spiritual contest by the beginning joy; then, that it be reproved and tested by the variety [so printed; perhaps "truth"] of the Holy Spirit, both in the things it has done wickedly and in those it still does: for with rebukes, it says, Thou hast corrected man for iniquity, and Thou hast made his soul waste away like a spider: so that, when the divine reproof has tested the soul as in a burning furnace, it may then receive the working of joy without imaginings, with a fervent remembrance of Christ.
CAPUT LXI.
CHAPTER LXI.
Quomodo mens, cum perturbata est, non potest Dei meminisse, et quae sit causa; et quomodo mens, cum est a passionibus libera, solertia sua utens, et gratia Dei adjuvante, cito oblivionem Dei expellit, et recordatur Domini Jesu; et quomodo contingat toto jam affectu ad memoriam Dei, et charitatem excitari.
How the mind, when it is disturbed, cannot remember God, and what the cause is; and how the mind, when it is free from the passions, using its own skill and with the help of the grace of God, quickly drives out forgetfulness of God and remembers the Lord Jesus; and how it comes about that one is stirred with one's whole affection to the remembrance of God and to charity.
Cum anima ira commovetur, aut offusa est ei caligo ex crapula, aut gravi angore afficitur, non potest mens, tametsi ipsa anima vim ei quodammodo adhibeat, memoriam Domini retinere; quin potius tota mens vehementia perturbationum obscurata, a suo sensu ob hanc causam prorsus alienatur, quamobrem non potest desiderium sigillum suum imprimere, ut mens sine oblivione speciem meditationis ferat, durescente memoria ejus propter feritatem perturbationum; sin autem extra perturbationes posita sit, tametsi
When the soul is stirred by anger, or darkness from surfeiting has been spread over it, or it is afflicted with grievous distress, the mind cannot keep the remembrance of the Lord, even if the soul itself in some way applies force to it; rather the whole mind, darkened by the vehemence of the disturbances, is for this reason altogether estranged from its own perception, and therefore desire cannot impress its seal, so that the mind might bear the form of meditation without forgetting, since its memory grows hard through the savagery of the disturbances; but if it is placed beyond the disturbances, even if […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1186
Footnotes
(24) ‹ignis consumens est› · printed under col 1185–1186 (full-width footnote lines)
Deut. IV, 24; Hebr. XII, 29.
Deut. 4:24; Heb. 12:29.
(25) ‹de inventione habere› · printed under col 1185–1186 (full-width footnote lines)
Matth. XIII, 45.
Matt. 13:45.
(26) ‹addit dolorem› · printed under col 1185–1186 (full-width footnote lines)
Eccle. I, 14.
Eccles. 1:14 [so printed; the words quoted are at 1:18].
(27) ‹sicut araneam animam ejus› · printed under col 1185 (second footnote line)
Psal. XXXVIII, 12.
Ps. 38:12.
Page
- running head: 1185 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1186 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹Quicunque enim sanctum›; B ‹bere›; C ‹guatur, et probetur›; D ‹Dei, et charitatem excitari› (gutter, shared with col 1185)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column ends with "ta-" hyphenated across the break; the word ("tametsi") is set whole here, completed from the top of col 1187. Damaged type: "humilitat⟨i⟩s". "a varietate Spiritus sancti" set as printed; perhaps for "veritate" (UNSURE, not listed as a misprint). Note 26 prints the verse as 14 (the quotation is Eccles. 1:18; the figure is small and blurred). Footnote numbers 24–26 read by sequence (small figures 3/4/5 alike).
paulisper oblivio illud promptum animi subripiat, tamen cito mens, solertia sua utens, ferventer illam salutarem, et maxime expetendam praedam apprehendit; habet enim tunc ipsam gratiam una cum anima meditantem, et clamantem, Domine Jesu; sicut mater puerulum suum docet, et cum eo meditatur paternum nomen, donec ad habitum ejus no⟨m⟩inis eum perducat; et infans puer pro aliquo alio pueri sermone clare patrem etiam dormiens appellat: idcirco ait Apostolus: Similiter autem Spiritus adjuvat infirmitatem nostram: quid enim oremus, quomodo oportet, nescimus, sed ipse Spiritus interpellat pro nobis gemitibus inenarrabilibus. Etenim quia ad capiendam virtutis orandi perfectionem parvuli sumus, omnino auxilio ejus indigemus, ut cum ejus dulcedo major, quam dici potest, omnes cogitationes commisceat, et suavitate perfundat, toto cum affectu ad memoriam Dei et charitatem excitemur: quamobrem cum in ipso, ut idem Paulus ait, Deum Patrem inclamamus, ab ipso componimur ad vocandum sine intermissione: Abba, Pater.
[…] forgetfulness should for a little while steal away that readiness of the soul, yet the mind, using its own skill, quickly and fervently lays hold again of that saving and most desirable prey; for it then has grace itself meditating together with the soul and crying out, Lord Jesus; just as a mother teaches her little child, and meditates with him on his father's name, until she brings him to the habit of that name; and the infant child, instead of any other childish speech, calls clearly on his father even in his sleep: therefore the Apostle says: Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmity: for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unutterable groanings. For since we are little children as regards attaining the perfection of the virtue of prayer, we altogether need His help, so that, when His sweetness, greater than can be told, mingles with all our thoughts and pours its delight over them, we may be stirred with our whole affection to the remembrance of God and to charity: therefore, when in Him, as the same Paul says, we cry out to God the Father, we are disposed by Him to call without ceasing: Abba, Father.
CAPUT LXII.
CHAPTER LXII.
De ira, quomodo, et quando ea utendum; et quomodo utiliter a Deo data sit; et quid Dominus docere voluerit quando infremuit spiritu in morte Lazari; et quomodo sit Eliae, et currui ejus igneo similis qui propter ardorem pietatis ira utitur sedata.
On anger: how and when it is to be used; and how it has been usefully given by God; and what the Lord wished to teach when He groaned in spirit at the death of Lazarus; and how he who, on account of the ardour of piety, uses a calm anger is like Elijah and his fiery chariot.
Ira plus quam aliae passiones perturbare et confundere animam solet, aliquando vero magnopere utilis est: cum enim contra eos, qui aliquid inique aut flagitiose, quodcunque illud sit, committunt, ea sedate utimur, ut aut salvi fiant aut pudore afficiantur, tunc mansuetudinem ei adjungimus: eodem enim tendimus, quo justitia et bonitas Dei spectant; imo saepe, cum graviter peccato irati sumus, illud femineum quod in ira inest, virile facimus. Quod autem in ipsum spiritum interitus frementes, cum in magno moerore et luctu sumus, supra ipsam mortis gloriationem efferimur, non est dubitandum; quod quidem ut nos doceret Dominus, animam Lazari reddidit corpori postquam bis in spiritu infremuisset in mortem, seque conturbasset: cum alioqui omnia voluntate sola sine ulla conturbatione, quaecunque vult, efficiat. Ut jam, mea quidem sententia, ira moderata magis tanquam telum naturae nostrae ab auctore nostro tributa sit. Quo si Eva contra serpentem usa fuisset, nunquam ab illa falsa voluptate delinita esset. Unde, ut mihi videtur, qui propter studium et ardorem pietatis ira utitur sedate, probatior in lance remunerationum reperietur prae eo qui nullo
Anger, more than the other passions, is wont to disturb and confound the soul, but sometimes it is greatly useful: for when we use it calmly against those who commit something unjust or shameful, whatever it may be, so that they may either be saved or be put to shame, then we join meekness to it: for we are aiming at the same thing to which the justice and goodness of God look; indeed often, when we are gravely angry at sin, we make manly that womanish element which is in anger. And that, raging in spirit against destruction itself, when we are in great sorrow and mourning, we are borne above the very boast of death, there is no doubt; and to teach us this the Lord restored the soul of Lazarus to his body after He had twice groaned in spirit against death and troubled Himself: whereas otherwise He accomplishes by His will alone, without any trouble, all things whatsoever He wills. So that now, in my opinion at least, moderate anger has been bestowed on our nature by our Maker rather as a weapon. Had Eve used it against the serpent, she would never have been charmed by that false pleasure. Hence, as it seems to me, he who on account of zeal and ardour of piety uses anger calmly will be found more approved in the scale of rewards than he who […] no […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1187
Footnotes
(28) ‹gemitibus inenarrabilibus› · printed under col 1187
Rom. VIII, 26.
Rom. 8:26.
(29) ‹Abba, Pater› · printed under col 1187
ibid. 15.
ibid. 15.
(30) ‹seque conturbasset› · printed under col 1187
Joan. XI, 33 sqq.
John 11:33 ff.
Page
- running head: 1187 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1188 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹metsi paulisper oblivio›; B ‹indigemus, ut cum ejus dulcedo›; C ‹fundere animam solet›; D not seen (gutter, shared with col 1188)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with the end of "tametsi", hyphenated from col 1186 and set whole there. Damaged type: "no⟨m⟩inis". The lettered editors' note (1), printed partly under this column, is called in col 1188 and set there.
modo propter mentis immobilitatem ira movetur: hic enim aurigam sensuum hominis inexcitatum habere plane cernitur; ille vero semper in equis virtutis, certandi studio fervens, vehitur inter medias daemonum copias, quadrigam continentiae in timore Dei omni tempore exercens, quam quidem currum Israel apud Scripturam, cum Elias ille in sublime sublatus est, dictam esse legimus: siquidem Judaeis primum, de quatuor virtutibus excellenter locutum esse Deum videmus. Idcirco totus, et in curru ignis sublatus est ille tantus ac tam admirandus sapientiae alumnus, tanquam equis, ut mihi videtur, suis usus virtutibus in Domino, qui illum in aura spiritus ignis rapuit.
[…] way is moved to anger because of the immobility of his mind: for the latter is plainly seen to have the charioteer of the human senses unroused; but the former, fervent with zeal for the contest, rides always on the horses of virtue through the midst of the hosts of demons, exercising at all times the four-horse chariot of continence in the fear of God, which indeed we read in Scripture was called the chariot of Israel when the great Elijah was taken up on high: since we see that God spoke excellently of the four virtues first to the Jews. Therefore that great and so admirable nursling of wisdom was taken up whole in a chariot of fire, using, as it seems to me, his own virtues as horses in the Lord, Who snatched him up in a breath of spirit and fire.
CAPUT LXIII.
CHAPTER LXIII.
Quomodo spiritualis non debeat, neque aliis litem intendere, neque sua in judicio recuperare.
How the spiritual man ought neither to bring a lawsuit against others nor to recover his own property in court.
Qui particeps sanctae cognitionis factus est, et dulcedinem Dei degustavit, neque litigare debet, neque ulli litem intendere, tametsi vestitum, quo indutus est, alius detrahat: justitiam enim magistratuum hujus saeculi justitia Dei omnibus modis superat, et antecellit. Imo nihil illa est ad justitiam Dei; quae enim distantia inter eos, qui Dei et hujus saeculi discipuli et alumni sunt, si horum jus cum justitia Dei collatum non cernitur imperfectum, ita ut alterum dicatur humanum jus, alterum divina justitia? Sic igitur et Dominus noster Jesus Christus: Cum malediceretur, non maledicebat, cum pateretur, non minabatur: quinimo passus est cum silentio detrahi sibi amictum; et ut, quod plus est, dicam, pro salute maleficorum Patrem precabatur. Homines vero hujus saeculi non prius litigare desinunt, quam cum quaestu interdum res ab iis a quibus in judicium vocati sunt, recuperent, praesertim cum ante debitum usuras ferunt, ita ut jus saepe initium magnae injuriae sit.
He who has become a partaker of holy knowledge and has tasted the sweetness of God ought neither to go to law nor to bring a suit against anyone, even if another strips him of the garment he is wearing: for the justice of God in every way surpasses and excels the justice of the magistrates of this world. Indeed that is nothing compared with the justice of God; for what difference is there between those who are disciples and nurslings of God and those of this world, if the right of the latter, compared with the justice of God, is not seen to be imperfect, so that the one is called human right and the other divine justice? Thus, then, did our Lord Jesus Christ too: When He was reviled, He did not revile; when He suffered, He did not threaten: nay rather He suffered in silence His garment to be stripped from Him; and, what is more, He prayed to the Father for the salvation of the evildoers. But the men of this world do not cease to go to law until they recover, sometimes with gain, their property from those by whom they were summoned to court, especially when they exact interest before the debt [is due], so that right is often the beginning of great injury.
CAPUT LXIV
CHAPTER LXIV
De iis, qui causam litigandi excusant, dicentes, non licere dare locum iis qui res nostras nobis ad nostrum victum et pauperum necessarias diripere volunt; et quomodo praestet orationi et custodiae cordis operam dare, et injuriam suam judicio alterius saeculi reservare.
On those who excuse the cause of going to law, saying that it is not lawful to give way to those who wish to plunder our property, which is necessary to us for our own sustenance and for that of the poor; and how it is better to devote oneself to prayer and the guarding of the heart, and to reserve one's injury for the judgement of the other world.
Audivi pios quosdam dicere, non licere dare locum quibuscunque diripiendi ea, quae ad nos alendos, vel ad pauperes recreandos habemus, praesertim si qui hoc committunt Christiani sunt, ne, dum toleranter ferimus, iis, qui nos injuris afficiunt, occasionem peccandi praebeamus. Ho⟨c⟩
I have heard certain pious men say that it is not lawful to give way to anyone whatever to plunder the things which we have for feeding ourselves or for relieving the poor, especially if those who commit this are Christians, lest, while we bear it patiently, we provide an occasion of sinning to those who do us injuries. This […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1188
Footnotes
(31) ‹dictam esse legimus› · printed under col 1188
IV Reg. II, 11.
2 Kgs. 2:11.
(32) ‹non minabatur› · printed under col 1188
I Petr. II, 23.
1 Pet. 2:23.
(33) ‹Patrem precabatur› · printed under col 1188
Luc. XXIII, 34.
Luke 23:34.
(1) ‹neque sua in judicio recuperare› · printed under cols 1187–1188 (a lettered editors' note in two columns of small type, below the numbered notes)
Caute lege hoc et sequens caput; nam sanissima est theologorum doctrina quae habet, licere Christiano in judicio rerum ablatarum restitutionem, et injuriarum compensationem repetere, servatis ⟨d⟩ebitis circumstantiis, ut ob justitiam, non privato amore vindictae, odio, etc., id faciat, tametsi cujusdam excellentis perfectionis et consilii evangelici sit, nullum ob quamcunque privatam injuriam in jus apud judicem vocare. Ad hanc normam reducenda est tota haec Diadochi disputatio de non litigando, si veram et non erroneam cupimus.
Read this and the following chapter with caution; for it is the soundest doctrine of the theologians, which holds that it is lawful for a Christian to seek in court the restitution of goods taken away and compensation for injuries, observing the due circumstances, so that he does it for the sake of justice, not from a private love of revenge, from hatred, etc., although it belongs to a certain excellent perfection and to evangelical counsel to summon no one to law before a judge for any private injury whatever. To this rule the whole of this discussion of Diadochus on not going to law must be brought back, if we want it to be true and not erroneous.
Page
- running head: 1187 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1188 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹modo propter mentis›; B ‹CAPUT LXIII.›; C ‹Jesus Christus: Cum malediceretur›; D not seen (gutter, shared with col 1187)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the call of note 33 is printed after "precabatur." (after the full stop). The column's last word is "Ho⟨c⟩", its c damaged, with no hyphen; col 1189 begins "vero nihil aliud est", so no word runs across the break. Misprint "injuris" set as printed. The caption "CAPUT LXIV" is printed without a full stop.
vero nihil aliud est, quam per simulationem sua magis quam se amare. O excusationem a ratione alienam! Si enim, derelicta oratione et custodia cordis, adversus eos, qui me vexare, et diripere volunt, paulatim incipiam causas dicere, et ad tribunalium vestibula assiduus esse, liquet jam, pluris me facere recuperata per judicium, quam salutem meam, ne dicam, quam ipsum mandatum salutare. Quomodo enim omnino sequar, quo Evangelium jubet, non repetere, si quis mea tollat, sed potius laeto animo sufferre, et sicut Apostolus ait, cum gaudio suscipere direptionem bonorum meorum, quando neque qui in judicio disceptavit, et quae voluit recuperavit, violentum illum usurpatorem peccato liberat? si quidem non possunt praescribere aeterna Dei judicia, quae in terra exercentur: has enim leges satis implet reus, apud quas contingit ei causam suam defendere. Quare praeclara res est perpeti violentiam eorum qui volunt injuriam facere, et preces pro eis adhibere, ut per poenitentiam, non autem per restitutionem eorum quae diripuerunt, de crimine direptionis absolvantur. Hoc enim justitia Domini postulat, ut eum, qui rapuit, non quae rapuit, recuperantes, eumdem per poenitentiam liberemus.
[…] is nothing other than, under a pretence, to love one's own things more than oneself. O excuse foreign to reason! For if, abandoning prayer and the guarding of the heart, I begin little by little to plead cases against those who wish to harass and plunder me, and to be constantly at the doors of the tribunals, it is plain by now that I value what is recovered through a lawsuit more than my salvation, not to say more than the saving commandment itself. For how shall I at all follow where the Gospel bids, not to demand back if someone takes what is mine, but rather to bear it with a glad mind, and, as the Apostle says, to accept with joy the plundering of my goods, when he who has contended in court and recovered what he wanted does not free that violent usurper from his sin either? For the judgements exercised on earth cannot set aside the eternal judgements of God: the accused satisfies only those laws before which it falls to him to defend his case. Therefore it is an excellent thing to endure the violence of those who wish to do us injury, and to offer prayers for them, so that they may be absolved of the crime of plundering through repentance, and not through the restitution of what they have plundered. For the justice of the Lord demands this: that, recovering not what the robber seized but the robber himself, we set that same man free through repentance.
CAPUT LXV.
CHAPTER LXV.
De praestantia et utilitate vendendi omnia, et tribuendi ea pauperibus; et quomodo virtus humilitatis magis quam reliquae virtutes, tanquam mater indulgentissima hujusmodi paupertatem foveat et recreet.
On the excellence and usefulness of selling everything and giving it to the poor; and how the virtue of humility, more than the other virtues, like a most indulgent mother cherishes and refreshes such poverty.
Res apta, et omnino utilis est, post cognitam viam pietatis in Deum, vendere statim omnia bona nostra, et pecuniam redactam, secundum mandatum Domini dispensare, ac non potius per simulationem obediendi mandatis Dei, monitum salutare non audire. Hinc enim sequetur primum quidem optima vacuitas sollicitudinis, tum deinceps secura, et ab insidiis tuta paupertas, quae altiora cogitat, quam de illa injuria, aut lite; idque quia non amplius habet materiam, quae ignem avaritiae inflammet. Fovebit autem nos tunc magis quam reliquae virtutes, humilitas, quae sinu suo et complexu nudos recreabit, sicut mater puerum suum gremio exceptum fovet, cum is puerili simplicitate ductus vestitum suum exuit, et procul abjecit, magis tunc nuditate, ut omnis malitiae expers, quam varietate vestitus laetus. Custodit enim, inquit, parvulos Dominus; humiliatus sum, et liberasti me.
It is a fitting and altogether useful thing, once the way of piety towards God has been recognized, to sell at once all our goods and to distribute the money raised according to the Lord's commandment, and not rather, under a pretence of obeying God's commandments, to refuse to hear the saving admonition. For from this there will follow first a most excellent freedom from anxiety, and then a poverty secure and safe from snares, which thinks on higher things than that injury or lawsuit; and this because it no longer has any fuel to inflame the fire of avarice. Then humility, more than the other virtues, will cherish us, and will refresh us in our nakedness in her bosom and embrace, as a mother cherishes her child taken into her lap when, led by childish simplicity, he has stripped off his clothing and thrown it far away, happier then in his nakedness, as one free of all malice, than in a variety of clothing. For, it says, the Lord keeps the little ones; I was humbled, and Thou didst deliver me.
CAPUT LXVI.
CHAPTER LXVI.
De iis qui dicunt: Unde fiet eleemosyna pauperibus, qui quotidie nostris bonis alebantur, si omnia semel vendiderimus? et de humilitate, quam parit nihil jam habere ad largiendum pauperibus; et quomodo quod non potest comparari per eleemosynam, comparabitur copiosius per orationem, et tolerantiam, atque humilitatem, et quomodo qui bona sua reliquerunt, hi praeparant se ad recipiendum
On those who say: "Whence will alms be given to the poor, who used to be fed every day from our goods, if we sell everything at once?"; and on the humility that is born of no longer having anything to bestow on the poor; and how what cannot be acquired through almsgiving will be acquired more abundantly through prayer, endurance and humility; and how those who have left their goods prepare themselves to receive […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1189
Footnotes
(34) ‹quo Evangelium jubet› · printed under cols 1189–1190 (full width)
Matth. V, 40.
Matt. 5:40.
(35) ‹sicut Apostolus ait› · printed under cols 1189–1190 (full width)
II Cor. XI, 20.
2 Cor. 11:20.
(36) ‹secundum mandatum Domini› · printed under cols 1189–1190 (full width)
Matth. XIX, 21.
Matt. 19:21.
(37) ‹humiliatus sum, et liberasti me› · printed under cols 1189–1190 (full width)
Psal. CXIV, 6.
Ps. 114:6.
Page
- running head: 1189 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1190 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹vero nihil aliud est›; B ‹scribere aeterna Dei judicia›; C ‹indulgentissima hujusmodi paupertatem› (in the gutter, level with the fourth line of the caption of CAPUT LXV); D ‹ceptum fovet, cum is puerili›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the call figures in this column are small and partly illegible (the first two read rather like 35 and 36); numbered by the sequence of the notes printed under the page, whose first figure is illegible and which run to 40; the column begins with a whole word (no hyphen across the break from col 1188). Note 35 cites II Cor. XI, 20 at words that echo Heb. 10:34; set as printed. The caption of CAPUT LXVI runs over into col 1190; the word recipien-dum, hyphenated across the break, is set whole here.
charisma scientiae Verbi Dei ut possint divitias regni Dei praedicare.
[…] the gift of the knowledge of the Word of God, so that they may be able to preach the riches of the kingdom of God.
Sane quidem secundum id quod habemus, non autem secundum id quod non habemus reposcet a nobis Dominus rationem eleemosynae. Si ergo quod diu poteram largiri, tempore propter metum Dei benigne dispertio, de qua re amplius, cum nihil habeam accusabor? Sed dicet aliquis, Unde igitur misericordia tribuetur iis pauperibus, qui solebant nostris mediocribus bonis paulatim gubernari? Discat iste non exprobrare Deo per occasionem avaritiae suae: non enim deerit Deo facultas suo⟨s⟩ quos fecit, gubernandi, ut a principio gubernavit; nec enim priusquam hic aut ille ad tribuendam eleemosynam excitati essent, cibus aut vestitus pauperibus deerat. Praeclara ergo res est, statim percepta cognitione melioris status, bene largiendo abjicere temeritatem gloriandi ex divitiis, odio habentem cupiditates, quod est, animam suam odisse; ut jam non amplius largitione opum laetantes, nos ipsos nihili faciamus, tanquam nihil boni agentes: dum enim divitiis affluimus, mirifice iis largiendis delectamur, si tamen virtute utimur, tanquam hilariter jussui Dei servientes; postquam vero bona omnia exhausta sunt, infinitus tunc subit dolor, et submissio, quasi nihil justitia dignum agamus. Ex quo fit, ut ad se anima cum multa submissione redeat, ut quod non potest quotidie per eleemosynam sibi comparare, hoc per laboriosam orationem, et per tolerantiam, atque humilitatem possit: Pauper enim, inquit, et inops laudabunt nomen Domini; nec enim charisma theologiae, id est, tractationis verbi Dei, ulli a Deo praeparatur, nisi se ipse ita praepararit, ut propter gloriam Evangelii Christi omnium bonorum suorum relinquat possessionem, ut in paupertate Deo amica divitias Evangelii regni Dei praedicet: hoc enim perspicue significavit, qui dixit: Parasti in bonitate tua pauperi, Deus, et subjungit: Dominus dabit verbum evangelizantibus virtute multa.
Certainly the Lord will demand of us an account of almsgiving according to what we have, and not according to what we do not have. If, then, what I could have bestowed over a long time I distribute generously in due season out of fear of God, of what further shall I be accused when I have nothing? But someone will say: "Whence, then, will mercy be shown to those poor who used to be sustained little by little by our modest goods?" Let such a one learn not to reproach God on the pretext of his own avarice: for God will not lack the means of sustaining His own, whom He made, as He has sustained them from the beginning; for before this man or that was stirred to give alms, the poor did not lack food or clothing. It is an excellent thing, therefore, as soon as knowledge of the better state has been received, to cast off by generous giving the rashness of glorying in riches, holding desires in hatred, which is to hate one's own soul; so that, no longer rejoicing in the bestowal of wealth, we may count ourselves as nothing, as those who do nothing good. For while we abound in riches we delight wonderfully in bestowing them, if indeed we practise virtue, as serving God's command cheerfully; but when all our goods are exhausted, then boundless grief and lowliness come over us, as though we were doing nothing worthy of righteousness. Hence it comes about that the soul returns to itself with much lowliness, so that what it cannot acquire for itself daily through almsgiving it may acquire through laborious prayer, and through endurance and humility; for, it says, the poor and needy shall praise the name of the Lord; nor indeed is the gift of theology, that is, of treating the word of God, prepared by God for anyone unless he has so prepared himself that for the glory of the Gospel of Christ he gives up the possession of all his goods, so that in poverty, the friend of God, he may preach the riches of the Gospel of the kingdom of God. This is what he plainly signified who said: Thou hast prepared in Thy goodness for the poor, O God; and he adds: The Lord will give the word to those who preach the good news with great power.
CAPUT LXVII.
CHAPTER LXVII.
De charismate theologiae, et quot, et quanta bona ex ea proficiscuntur.
On the gift of theology, and how many and how great are the goods that proceed from it.
Omnia dona Dei sunt valde bona, et omnium bonorum causa, sed nullum ita nostrum cor inflammat, et illud ad amandum bonitatem ejus excitat, ut donum theologiae; cum enim sit fetus matutinus gratiae Dei, prima etiam dona largitur animae: primum enim facit, ut libenter ac jucunde omnes vitae hujus amicitias contemnamus, ut qui pro cupiditatibus fluxis divitias verbi Dei majores, quam dici potest, habemus. Deinde mentem nostram igne naturam mutante collustrat: unde consortem ministrantium spirituum eam facit. Hanc igitur virtutem, fratres charissimi, idonee ad hoc praeparati concupiscamus, quae pulcherrima est, quae omnia contemplatur, quae omni sollicitudine vacuum facit,
All the gifts of God are very good and the cause of all good things, but none so inflames our heart and stirs it to love His goodness as the gift of theology; for since it is the morning offspring of God's grace, it also bestows the first gifts on the soul: first it brings it about that we gladly and joyfully despise all the friendships of this life, as those who have, in place of fleeting desires, the riches of the word of God, greater than can be told. Then it illumines our mind with a fire that changes its nature, whence it makes it a partner of the ministering spirits. Let us therefore, dearest brethren, duly prepared for this, desire this virtue, which is most beautiful, which contemplates all things, which makes one free of every care, […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1190
Footnotes
(38) ‹id quod non habemus› · printed under cols 1189–1190 (full width)
II Cor. VIII, 12.
2 Cor. 8:12.
(39) ‹laudabunt nomen Domini› · printed under cols 1189–1190 (full width)
Psal. LXXV, 21.
Ps. 75:21 [the words quoted stand at Ps. 73:21].
(40) ‹evangelizantibus virtute multa› · printed under cols 1189–1190 (full width)
Psal. LXVII, 11, 12.
Ps. 67:11, 12.
Page
- running head: 1189 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1190 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹dum charisma scientiae› (gutter, shared with col 1189); B ‹ribus deerat. Praeclara ergo›; C ‹et per tolerantiam, atque humilitatem›; D ‹norum causa, sed nullum›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with the end of the caption of CAPUT LXVI, whose hyphenated word recipien-dum is set whole at the end of col 1189. Note 39 is printed "Psal. LXXV, 21" (read at zoom 7); the words quoted are Ps. 73:21 (Vulgate). This is an editor's wrong citation correctly printed (a plausible number, not a stray or missing figure), so it is not a misprint (DC03 row withdrawn by VQ5); the English gives the printed reference with the verse the words occupy in brackets. The call figures at 38 and 40 are legible; 39 is partly legible.
quae fulgore arcani luminis plena est, et mentem verbis Dei alit, et quae Deo Verbo (ne multa dicam) animam rationis participem per sanctos prophetas ad inseparabilem cum eo conjunctionem despondit, ut apud homines (o rem admiratione dignam!) haec divina pronuba voces, quibus similes Deo efficeremur, et theologici sermones diserte canerentur, aptaret.
[…] which is full of the brightness of hidden light, and nourishes the mind with the words of God, and which (not to say much) through the holy prophets betrothed the soul, partaker of reason, to God the Word for an inseparable union with Him, so that among men (O thing worthy of wonder!) this divine bridesmaid might fit together words by which we should be made like God, and theological discourses might be eloquently sung.
CAPUT LXVIII.
CHAPTER LXVIII.
Quae sit causa, cur mens nostra difficilis sit ad orationem, facilis vero et prompta ad divinarum rerum contemplationes; et de utilitate orationis, ad proficiendum in contemplatione.
What is the cause why our mind is reluctant for prayer, but easy and ready for the contemplation of divine things; and on the usefulness of prayer for making progress in contemplation.
Mens nostra, ut plurimum difficilis est ad orationem propter angustam et contractam virtutem orandi, ad theologiam vero se dat libenter propter latitudinem et laxitatem res divinas contemplandi. Ut igitur non faciamus ei liberum ut multa loqui libeat, nec immoderate exsultare permittamus, quamplurimum in oratione, et psalmorum cantu, et sanctarum Scripturarum lectione occupemur, neque commentationes virorum disertorum negligamus, quorum fides ex sermone dignoscatur. Non enim, cum hoc fit, locus datur, ut mens nostra verba propria cum verbis gratiae misceat, aut ab inani gloria trahatur per nimiam exsultationem ac loquacitatem distracta: imo et ipso contemplationis tempore mentem extra omnem phantasiam custodiemus, ac cunctas fere cogitationes, quae ad excitandas lacrymas valent, hinc ei comparabimus; illis enim quietis temporibus recreata mens et ipsa orationis dulcedine maxime d⟨e⟩linita, non solum illis quae diximus, vitiis liberatur, sed etiam vires adhuc renovat, quas celeriter ac sine labore ad divina contemplanda intendat, simulque in contemplatione ea discernendi, multa submissione proficiat. Illud tamen advertendum est, esse quidem orationem supra omnem latitudinem: sed haec illorum est, qui in omni sensu et plenitudine divina gratia impleti sunt.
Our mind, for the most part, is reluctant for prayer because of the narrow and confined power of praying, but gives itself willingly to theology because of the breadth and spaciousness of contemplating divine things. So, then, that we may not leave it free to please itself in speaking much, nor allow it to exult immoderately, let us be occupied as much as possible in prayer, in the singing of psalms and in the reading of the holy Scriptures, and let us not neglect the commentaries of eloquent men whose faith is recognized from their discourse. For when this is done, no room is given for our mind to mix its own words with the words of grace, or, distracted by excessive exultation and talkativeness, to be drawn away by vainglory; rather, even in the very time of contemplation we shall keep the mind outside every fantasy, and from this we shall procure for it nearly all the thoughts that avail to stir up tears. For in those times of quiet the mind, refreshed and greatly soothed by the very sweetness of prayer, is not only freed from the vices we have mentioned, but also renews its strength further, so that it may direct it swiftly and without labour to contemplating divine things, and at the same time may advance with much lowliness in discerning them in contemplation. This, however, must be noted, that there is indeed a prayer above all breadth; but this belongs to those who are filled with divine grace in all their sense and fullness.
CAPUT LXIX.
CHAPTER LXIX.
Quomodo gratia in principio cum magna voluptate spirituali soleat animam illuminare; processu vero certaminis spiritualis non ita, ut videamur derelicti, et quae utilitas inde instat, et quomodo iis qui adhuc sunt parvuli in certamine spirituali, nimius dolor et nimium gaudium noceat.
How grace at the beginning is wont to illumine the soul with great spiritual delight, but in the course of the spiritual contest not so, so that we seem to be abandoned; and what usefulness arises from this; and how excessive grief and excessive joy harm those who are still little children in the spiritual contest.
Solet principio gratia lumine suo in multo sensu animam collustrare; processu vero certaminis saepe mysteria sua clam in anima divina contemplanti, operatur, ut nos tunc quidem laetos in vestigia divinarum rerum, quas contemplamur, immittat, velut ex ignorantia ad cognitionem vocatos; in medio vero certaminis cognitionem nostram ab inanis gloriae c⟨u⟩piditate liberam servet. Oportet igitur dolere quidem moderate, quasi nos derelictos, quo submissiores simus ac magis gloriae Domini subjecti; laetari vero opportune spe bona exsultantes. Ut enim nimius dolor animam in desperationem et
At the beginning grace is wont to illumine the soul with its light in much sensation; but in the course of the contest it often works its mysteries secretly in the soul that contemplates divine things, so that at that time it sets us, glad, upon the traces of the divine things we contemplate, as those called from ignorance to knowledge, while in the midst of the contest it keeps our knowledge free from the desire of vainglory. We must therefore grieve moderately, as being abandoned, so that we may be more lowly and more subject to the glory of the Lord, and rejoice at the proper time, exulting in good hope. For just as excessive grief […] the soul into despair and […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1191
Page
- running head: 1191 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1192 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹quae fulgore arcani luminis› (gutter, shared with col 1192); B ‹orandi, ad theologiam vero›; C ‹illis enim quietis temporibus›; D ‹qui adhuc sunt parvuli› (gutter, level with the fifth line of the caption of CAPUT LXIX)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the footnote line printed under this column (notes 41 and 42) has no call in it; both are called in col 1192 and set in n1192.
diffidentiam projicit, sic nimia laetitia ad elationem provocat: de iis loquor qui sunt adhuc pueri sensu; inter illuminationem enim et derelictionem interjecta est experientia, inter dolorem vero et laetitiam spes: Exspectans enim, inquit, exspectavi Dominum, et intendit mihi; et rursus: Secundum multitudinem dolorum meorum in corde meo, consolationes tuae laetificaverunt animam meam.
[…] distrust casts it, so excessive gladness provokes it to elation; I speak of those who are still children in understanding. For between illumination and abandonment experience is set, and between grief and gladness, hope: for, it says, With expectation I have waited for the Lord, and He was attentive to me; and again: According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, Thy consolations have gladdened my soul.
CAPUT LXX.
CHAPTER LXX.
De loquacitate, quomodo animam distrahat, et memoria sui privet; et quae causa ejus et quam praeclara res sit silentium.
On talkativeness, how it distracts the soul and deprives it of the remembrance of itself; and what its cause is, and how excellent a thing silence is.
Sicut janua balnei, si crebro aperiatur, cito calorem ejus extrudit, sic anima cum multa loqui vult, quamvis valde pulchra sint omnia, memoriam sui per vocale ostium distrahit, ac disturbat. Ex quo fit, ut tempestivis et opportunis cogitationibus deinceps privetur: ipsum vero concursum cogitationum quodammodo tumultuose quibusvis proferat, quia non habeat deinceps Spiritum sanctum, qui animam ejus a visis extrinsecus oblatis servet; bonum enim, utpote ab omni tumultu et imaginatione alienum, verbositatem fugit. Praeclara ergo res est silentium, nihilque aliud quam mater sapientissimorum cogitatuum.
As the door of a bath, if it is often opened, quickly drives out its heat, so the soul, when it wishes to say much, even though all it says be very fine, scatters and disturbs its remembrance of itself through the door of the voice. Hence it comes about that it is thereafter deprived of timely and fitting thoughts, and pours out to anyone at all, in a sort of tumult, the very throng of its thoughts, because it no longer has the Holy Spirit to keep its soul from the images presented from without; for the good, being foreign to all tumult and imagining, flees wordiness. An excellent thing, therefore, is silence, and nothing other than the mother of the wisest thoughts.
CAPUT LXX⟨I⟩.
CHAPTER LXXI.
Quomodo, cum quis ea quae mundi sunt, incipit repudiare, tunc incipiant passiones esse ei molestae, et inter eas potissimum ira et odium; et quomodo melius sit flere duritiam iniquorum, quam odio eos prosequi, quamvis odio digni sint.
How, when someone begins to reject the things of the world, the passions then begin to trouble him, and among them chiefly anger and hatred; and how it is better to weep over the hardness of the wicked than to pursue them with hatred, even though they are worthy of hatred.
Multas esse perturbationes, quae principio animam in contemplatione rerum divinarum versantem molestia afficiunt, ipse sermo scientiae nos docet: maxime vero omnium molestae sunt ira et malevolentia: hoc autem animae non tam propter daemones, quam propter progressus suos accidit; dum enim cum voluntate mundo consentit, quamvis cernat jura quomodocunque conculcari, neque movetur, neque perturbatur. Siquidem dum suis ducitur cupiditatibus, non habet justitiae Dei rationem; postquam vero coeperit passiones superare, non patitur jam tum propter contemptum rerum praesentium, tum propter charitatem, ut videat ⟨s⟩e per somnium quidem legem Dei violari, quin potius irascitur maleficis, quoad videat contumeliosos in virtutem justitiae, dignitatem justitiae pie defendere. Idcirco igitur iniquos quidem odio habet, justos vero diligit; tunc enim oculus animae prorsus non rapitur errore, cum anima suum tegumentum, id est corpus, ad multam tenuitatem per continentiam redegit; sed multo praestantius est duritiam et stuporem cordis istorum deflere, quam eosdem odio prosequi: etsi enim malevolentia digni sunt, tamen ratio non vult animam, quae Dei charitate teneatur, malevolentia turbari et impediri, cum in ea anima quae odium habet, cognitio non operetur.
That there are many disturbances which at the beginning trouble the soul engaged in the contemplation of divine things, the word of knowledge itself teaches us; but most troublesome of all are anger and ill will. This happens to the soul not so much because of the demons as because of its own progress; for while it willingly agrees with the world, though it sees rights trampled on in any way whatever, it is neither moved nor disturbed. For while it is led by its own desires, it takes no account of the justice of God; but once it has begun to overcome the passions, then, both because of its contempt for present things and because of charity, it no longer endures to see the law of God violated even in a dream, but rather is angry with evildoers, so that, seeing men insolent towards the virtue of justice, it may piously defend the dignity of justice. For this reason, then, it hates the wicked and loves the just; for the eye of the soul is not carried away by error at all when the soul has reduced its covering, that is the body, to great thinness through continence. But it is far better to weep over the hardness and dullness of heart of such men than to pursue them with hatred; for though they are worthy of ill will, yet reason does not wish the soul that is held by the charity of God to be troubled and hindered by ill will, since in the soul that harbours hatred knowledge does not work.
Editors' notes and page, col. 1192
Footnotes
(41) ‹exspectavi Dominum, et intendit mihi› · printed under col 1191
Psal, XXXIX, 2.
Ps. 39:2.
(42) ‹consolationes tuae laetificaverunt animam meam› · printed under col 1191
Psal. XCIII, 19.
Ps. 93:19.
Page
- running head: 1191 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1192 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹diffidentiam projicit›; B ‹vult, quamvis valde pulchra›; C (gutter, level with the third line of the caption of CAPUT LXXI, "et inter eas potissimum ira"); D ‹praesentium, tum propter charitatem›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: no footnotes are printed under this column. Note 41 is printed "Psal," with a comma, set as printed. The last figure of the numeral of CAPUT LXXI is broken into the shape of an L; set as damaged type, LXX⟨I⟩. Damaged type also: ⟨s⟩e (printed like "ce", ut videat se). "duritiam et" is printed with an ampersand, set as "et".
CAPUT LXXII.
CHAPTER LXXII.
De charismate sapientiae, et de charismate scientiae, sive cognitionis: et quomodo secunda virtus plus valeat ad exstirpandas passiones, quam prior; et quare non reperiatur plene utraque in singulis.
On the gift of wisdom and on the gift of knowledge, or understanding; and how the second power avails more than the first for rooting out the passions; and why both are not found in full in individual men.
Theologus, id est rerum divinarum contemplator eloquiis Dei delinitus et inflammatus, animo applicat se in illa laxitate ac latitudine opportuna contemplationum ad moderandas aliquantum passiones. Eloquia enim Domini, ait, eloquia casta; argentum igne examinatum, purgatum terrae. Qui vero cognitioni deditus est, experientia cognitionum secundum operationem confirmatus, superior passionibus exsistit; assequetur autem theologus experientiam virtutis cognitionis, si se submisse gerat. Et rursus qui studio cognitionis tenetur, assequetur item virtutem contemplationis, si eam partem animae, quae ad discernendum data est, habeat non errantem Non enim cuivis contingit habere ex toto haec duo charismata, idque ut dum uterque admiratur, et laudat quo alter abundat, humilitas cum zelo justitiae in ambobus redundet. Idcirco ait Apostolus: Alii per Spiritum datur sermo sapientiae, alii autem sermo scientiae (sive cognitionis) secundum eumdem Spiritum.
The theologian, that is, the contemplator of divine things, soothed and inflamed by the utterances of God, applies himself in mind, in that fitting spaciousness and breadth of contemplation, to moderating the passions to some degree. For, it says, the words of the Lord are pure words; silver tried by fire, purged of earth. But he who is devoted to knowledge, strengthened by the experience of knowledge according to its working, stands above the passions; and the theologian will attain the experience of the power of knowledge if he conducts himself lowlily. And again, he who is held by the pursuit of knowledge will likewise attain the power of contemplation, if he keeps unerring that part of the soul which has been given for discerning. For it does not fall to everyone to have these two gifts entirely, and this so that, while each admires and praises that in which the other abounds, humility together with zeal for righteousness may overflow in both. Therefore the Apostle says: To one through the Spirit is given the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge (or understanding) according to the same Spirit.
CAPUT LXXIII.
CHAPTER LXXIII.
De oratione vocali, et in corde, cui contingat libentius orare voce; et cui rursus libentius in corde, et de simulacro laetitiae, quod sequitur orationem vocalem, et de lacrymis, quae sequi solent orationem cordis, et post lacrymas quaedam voluptas animi; et quae sit causa, et quomodo opus sit paulo majore voce psalmos canere, cum animus graviter languet.
On vocal prayer and prayer in the heart: to whom it falls to pray more willingly with the voice, and to whom again more willingly in the heart; and on the semblance of gladness that follows vocal prayer, and on the tears that are wont to follow the prayer of the heart, and after the tears a certain delight of the mind; and what the cause is; and how it is needful to sing the psalms in a somewhat louder voice when the mind languishes heavily.
Cum anima est in affluentia suorum fructuum naturalium, majore etiam voce psalmos canit, magisque vult orare voce. Cum vero Spiritus sanctus in ea operatur, tunc cum omni laxamento ac dulcedine canit, et orat in corde tantum. Sed cum illo priore modo affecta est, sequitur inde, ut videatur sibi gaudere; cum autem posteriore, sequuntur lacrymae spirituales, ac postea voluptas quaedam animi tacita, et silentii amica: memoria enim dum propter temperationem vocis manet fervida, facit, ut quosdam blandos et lacrymantes cogitatus cor ferat. Unde videre sane est, semina orationis cum lacrymis propter spem metendi gaudium in terra cordis spargi. Caeterum, cum multa moestitia gravamur, oportet nos paulo grandiore voce psalmos canere, edentes sonos animae, laetitia spei, donec gravis illa caligo aura concentus discutiatur.
When the soul is in the abundance of its own natural fruits, it sings the psalms in a louder voice and prefers to pray with the voice. But when the Holy Spirit works in it, then it sings with all ease and sweetness, and prays in the heart alone. When it is disposed in the former way, it follows that it seems to itself to rejoice; but when in the latter, spiritual tears follow, and afterwards a certain quiet delight of the mind, a friend of silence: for the remembrance, while it stays fervent through the restraint of the voice, causes the heart to bring forth certain gentle and tearful thoughts. Hence one may indeed see the seeds of prayer being sown with tears in the ground of the heart, in the hope of reaping joy. But when we are weighed down by much sadness, we must sing the psalms in a somewhat fuller voice, uttering the sounds of the soul with the gladness of hope, until that heavy darkness is dispersed by the breath of the song.
CAPUT LXXIV.
CHAPTER LXXIV.
De ardore spirituali animae, et quid inter charitatem naturalem et spiritualem intersit.
On the spiritual ardour of the soul, and what difference there is between natural and spiritual charity.
Cum anima noscit seipsam, ex se etiam fervorem quemdam et pudorem Deo amicum affert, siquidem non confusa sollicitudinibus vitae hujus, amorem quemdam pacis parit, quo Deum pacis quaerit, tametsi celeriter ab hoc distrahitur, vel sensibus prodentibus, et vel etiam natura bonum suum propter inopiam cito consumente: unde sapientes gentilium,
When the soul knows itself, it brings forth of itself also a certain fervour and a modesty pleasing to God, since, not being confounded by the cares of this life, it gives birth to a certain love of peace by which it seeks the God of peace, although it is quickly drawn away from this, either because the senses betray it, or because nature, through its poverty, quickly consumes its own good; whence the wise men of the gentiles […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1193
Footnotes
(43) ‹argentum igne examinatum, purgatum terrae› · printed under col 1193
Psal. XI, 7.
Ps. 11:7.
(44) ‹secundum eumdem Spiritum› · printed under col 1193
I Cor. XII, 8 sqq.
1 Cor. 12:8 ff.
Page
- running head: 1193 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1194 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A (gutter, level with the caption of CAPUT LXXII, shared with col 1194); B ‹cernendum data est, habeat non errantem›; C ‹voce psalmos canere, cum animus› (end of the caption of CAPUT LXXIII); D ‹cordis spargi. Caeterum›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: PATROL. GR. LXV. (under the footnotes of this column)
- other: the column begins with the heading CAPUT LXXII (col 1192 ends with a full stop). No full stop is printed after "habeat non errantem" before "Non enim"; set as printed. Note 45, printed under this column, is called in col 1194.
quod per virtutem se assequi existimabant, hoc, ut oportebat, non habebant, quia scilicet eorum mens a perenni et vera sapientia non agebatur. Fervor vero, quem Spiritus sanctus cordi affert, primum quidem totus ad pacem spectat, constansque est atque omnes animae partes ad desiderium Dei invitat, et extra cor non excitatur, imo per ipsum ad charitatem quamdam immensam et gaudium totum hominem exhilarat. Oportet igitur ardorem illum agnoscere, ad eumque pervenire; charitas namque naturalis index est naturae propter virtutem quodammodo benevalentis, nunquam tamen facere potest mentem bonam ad comparandam vacuitatem passionum, ut potest charitas spiritualis.
[…] did not possess, as they ought, what they thought they attained through virtue, because, namely, their mind was not moved by the everlasting and true wisdom. But the fervour which the Holy Spirit brings to the heart, first of all looks wholly towards peace, and is steadfast, and invites all the parts of the soul to the desire of God, and is not stirred up outside the heart, but through the heart gladdens the whole man to a certain boundless charity and joy. We must therefore recognize that ardour and attain to it; for natural charity is a sign of a nature in some way sound because of its power, yet it can never make the mind good for acquiring freedom from the passions, as spiritual charity can.
CAPUT LXXV.
CHAPTER LXXV.
Quando et quomodo gratia Spiritus sancti servet animam puram et liberam a nebulis passionum; et quando item et quomodo spiritus erroris tegat eam nubibus peccatorum.
When and how the grace of the Holy Spirit keeps the soul pure and free from the mists of the passions; and when likewise and how the spirit of error covers it with the clouds of sins.
Sicut aer iste nobis circumfusus, flante aquilone, propter naturam ejus tenuem et serenantem, purus permanet; contra vero, flante austro, totus veluti densatur a natura venti hujus nebulosa, qui ex suis regionibus ac locis ratione cujusdam cognationis nubes per totum orbem inducit: sic anima, cum afflatu veri et sancti Spiritus cietur, tota extra nebulas daemonis posita est; rursus vero, cum ab spiritu erroris vehementer inflatur, tota nubibus peccati obtegitur. Oportet igitur, ut totis viribus propositum nostrum ad vivificam et pugnantem Spiritus sancti auram semper convertamus, id est ad spiritum, quem propheta Ezechiel venientem ab aquilone in lumine cognitionis vidit. Ut ea potissimum animae nostrae pars, quae in contemplatione versatur, in serenitate perseveret; ut divina sine errore contemplemur, cernentes ea quae sunt luminis in aere veri luminis, hoc enim est lumen verae cognitionis.
As this air that surrounds us, when the north wind blows, stays pure because of that wind's thin and clearing nature, but on the contrary, when the south wind blows, is all as it were thickened by the misty nature of this wind, which by reason of a certain kinship brings clouds from its own regions and places over the whole world: so the soul, when it is moved by the breath of the true and Holy Spirit, is set wholly outside the mists of the demon; but again, when it is violently blown upon by the spirit of error, it is wholly covered with the clouds of sin. We must therefore always turn our purpose with all our strength towards the life-giving and fighting breeze of the Holy Spirit, that is, towards the spirit which the prophet Ezekiel saw coming from the north in the light of knowledge; so that that part of our soul above all which is engaged in contemplation may continue in serenity, so that we may contemplate divine things without error, discerning the things that belong to light in the air of the true light; for this is the light of true knowledge.
CAPUT LXXVI.
CHAPTER LXXVI.
Quomodo ante baptismum spiritus veritatis operetur in anima, et quomodo spiritus erroris: quomodo item isti duo spiritus operentur post baptismum.
How before baptism the spirit of truth works in the soul, and how the spirit of error; and likewise how these two spirits work after baptism.
Nonnulli existimarunt gratiam pariter et peccatum, id est Spiritum veritatis, et spiritum erroris in mente ejus qui baptizatus est, occultari. Unde alter, inquiunt, mentem ad virtutes hortatur et provocat, alter ad contraria. Ego vero tum ex divinis Scripturis, tum ex ipso sensu mentis comprehensum habeo, ante baptismum quidem hortari extrinsecus gratiam ad meliora, ac Satanam in imo cordis delitescere dantem operam, ut omnes vias mentis, quae ad dexteram tendunt, obstruat; ex ipsa vero hora, qua regeneramur, daemon quidem foris est, gratia vero intus. Unde comperimus, sicut olim error dominatus est in animam, sic in eam post baptismum dominari veritatem. Exercet quidem postea Satanas vim suam in anima, sicut antea, et saepenumero pejus, non tamen tanquam adsit una cum charitate, absit! sed, quod dulcedinem
Some have supposed that grace and sin alike, that is, the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error, lie hidden in the mind of one who has been baptized; whence, they say, the one exhorts and calls the mind to the virtues, the other to their contraries. But I have grasped, both from the divine Scriptures and from the very sense of the mind, that before baptism grace exhorts to better things from without, while Satan lurks in the depths of the heart, striving to block all the ways of the mind that tend to the right; but from the very hour in which we are born again, the demon is outside, and grace within. Hence we find that, as formerly error held dominion over the soul, so after baptism truth holds dominion over it. Satan does indeed exercise his force in the soul afterwards, as before, and often worse; not, however, as though he were present together with charity, far from it! but in that he […] the sweetness […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1194
Footnotes
(45) ‹ab aquilone in lumine cognitionis vidit› · printed under col 1193
Ezech. I, 4.
Ezek. 1:4.
Page
- running head: 1193 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1194 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹quod per virtutem se assequi›; B ‹Quando et quomodo gratia› (caption of CAPUT LXXV); C ‹Spiritus sancti auram semper›; D ‹alter, inquiunt, mentem›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: 38 (foot of the column)
- other: the column ends with dulcedi-nem hyphenated across the break into col 1195; set whole here. "pugnantem" (Spiritus sancti auram) is set and translated as printed.
voluptatum, quae a ratione alienae sunt, tanquam fumum quemdam in mentem per liquorem corporis infundat; hoc autem permissu Dei efficitur, ut homo, per tempestatem et ignem probationis trajectus, sic ad fruendum, si velit, summo bono perveniat: Transivimus, inquit, per ignem et aquam, et eduxisti nos in refrigerium.
[…] of pleasures foreign to reason, like a kind of smoke, into the mind through the humour of the body; and this is done by God's permission, so that a man, having passed through the storm and fire of trial, may thus come, if he will, to the enjoyment of the highest good: for, it says, We went through fire and water, and Thou didst bring us out into refreshment.
CAPUT LXXVII.
CHAPTER LXXVII.
Quomodo et quando incipiat gratia Dei declarare bonitatem suam animae; et quare tunc permittat Deus, ut plus molestiae exhibeant ei daemones; et quam magna inde utilitas exsistat.
How and when the grace of God begins to make its goodness known to the soul; and why God then permits the demons to cause it more trouble; and how great a usefulness arises from this.
Gratia, ut dixi, ex ipso puncto temporis quo baptizamur, in ipsa ima sede mentis occulitur, praesentiam suam sensui celans; postquam vero toto quis animo Deum amare coeperit, tunc inexplicabili quadam ratione per sensum mentis partem bonorum suorum cum anima communicat. Unde qui prorsus vult tute hoc quod invenit tenere, facile capitur desiderio relinquendi libentissime omnium bonorum vitae hujus possessionem, ut agrum nimirum comparet, in quo thesaurum vitae abditum reperit. Cum enim cunctas quis vitae hujus opes dimiserit, tunc locum, in quo gratia Dei recondita est, adipiscitur. Secundum enim proportionem progressus animae donum Dei bonitatem suam menti patefacit: tametsi permittat Deus daemonibus, ut plus tunc turbatum animae faciant, scilicet, ut congruenter eam doceat, rectum a pravo discernere, efficiatque quando purgatur magis submissam, propter multam verecundiam turpitudinis ex cogitationibus appulsu daemonum excitatis.
Grace, as I have said, from the very moment in which we are baptized, is hidden in the very depths of the mind, concealing its presence from the sense; but once someone has begun to love God with his whole soul, then in a certain inexplicable way it shares part of its goods with the soul through the sense of the mind. Hence he who wishes altogether to hold safely what he has found is easily seized by the desire of most gladly giving up the possession of all the goods of this life, in order, namely, to buy the field in which he has found the hidden treasure of life. For when someone has let go all the riches of this life, then he gains the place in which the grace of God is hidden. For in proportion to the soul's progress the gift of God discloses its goodness to the mind; although God permits the demons then to cause the soul more disturbance, namely so that He may fittingly teach it to discern right from wrong, and make it more lowly while it is being purified, through the great shame at the foulness arising from the thoughts stirred up by the assault of the demons.
CAPUT LXXVIII.
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
Quatenus homo ad imaginem Dei factus sit, et quid effectum per peccatum Adae, et quid rursus per baptismum, et quare non possint simul habitare in homine duo spiritus, a⟨l⟩ter bonus, et alter malus, sicut nonnulli opinati sunt; quare post baptismum relicta est duplex voluntas, et impugnatio daemonis.
In what respect man was made in the image of God, and what was brought about through the sin of Adam, and what again through baptism; and why two spirits, one good and the other evil, cannot dwell together in a man, as some have supposed; why after baptism a twofold will and the assault of the demon remain.
Sumus ad imaginem Dei, secundum notionem animae ad mentem pertinentem; corpus enim tanquam domicilium animae est. Igitur quia peccato Adae non solum lineae formae animae sordidae sunt, sed corpus quoque nostrum sub interitum cecidit, idcirco sanctum Dei Verbum carnem assumpsit, donavitque nobis, utpote Deus, aquam salutarem per baptismum suum ad regenerationem: per aquam enim operatione vivifici Spiritus regeneramur, quo confestim anima et corpore mundamur, si modo toto animo effecti, ad Deum accedimus, Spiritu quidem sancto in nobis habitante, peccato vero ab eo expulso; non enim fieri potest, cum sit una et simplex animae forma, ut duae ibi personae adsint, ut quorumdam opinio fuit; gratia namque Dei per baptism⟨u⟩m infinito quodam amore ad lineas formae, quae ad imaginem Dei facta est, aptata in pignus similitudinis, ubi potest esse locus daemoni, cum nulla sit luci cum tenebris communitas? Qui igitur in sacro certamine cursores sumus, credimus
We are in the image of God according to the notion of the soul that pertains to the mind; for the body is as it were the dwelling of the soul. Since, then, through the sin of Adam not only were the lineaments of the soul's form defiled, but our body too fell under corruption, therefore the holy Word of God took flesh and, being God, gave us through His own baptism the saving water for regeneration: for through water we are born again by the working of the life-giving Spirit, by Whom we are at once cleansed in soul and body, if only we come to God having become so with our whole mind, the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and sin being driven out by Him. For it cannot be, since the form of the soul is one and simple, that two persons should be present there, as was the opinion of some; for since the grace of God has been fitted through baptism, with a certain boundless love, to the lineaments of the form that was made in the image of God, as a pledge of the likeness, where can there be room for the demon, since light has no fellowship with darkness? We, then, who are runners in the sacred contest, believe […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1195
Footnotes
(46) ‹eduxisti nos in refrigerium› · printed under cols 1195–1196 (full width)
Psal. LXV, 11.
Ps. 65:11.
(47) ‹thesaurum vitae abditum reperit› · printed under cols 1195–1196 (full width)
Matth. XII, 44.
Matt. 13:44.
(48) ‹Sumus ad imaginem Dei› · printed under cols 1195–1196 (full width)
Gen. I, 26.
Gen. 1:26.
(49) ‹luci cum tenebris communitas› · printed under cols 1195–1196 (full width)
II Cor. VI, 14.
2 Cor. 6:14.
Page
- running head: 1195 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1196 (across the page); the column figure is blurred (reads rather like "113K"); the sequence and the facing 1196 give 1195
- marginal letters: A ‹voluptatum, quae a ratione alienae sunt› (gutter, shared with col 1196); B ‹toto quis animo Deum amare›; C ‹propter multam verecundiam turpitudinis›; D ‹baptismum suum ad regenerationem›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with nem, the end of dulcedi-nem, set whole at the end of col 1194. Note 47 is printed "Matth. XII, 44"; the field and hidden treasure are Matt. 13:44, so the English gives 13:44 and the figure is listed as a probable misprint. Damaged type: a⟨l⟩ter (caption of CAPUT LXXVIII), baptism⟨u⟩m (u printed like n).
multiformem illum serpentem per lavacrum incorruptibile ex penetralibus mentis ejici, neque vero mirari debemus, cur post baptismum turpia cum honestis cogitamus: sanctus enim baptismus maculam quidem peccati ex nobis delet; illam vero voluntatem nostram duplicem non mutat nunc; neque daemones, ne nos impugnent, prohibet, aut ne verbis utantur ad decipiendum, scilicet, ut quod in illo naturali statu positi non custodivimus, acceptis armis justitiae, virtute Dei custodiamus.
[…] that that manifold serpent is cast out of the inmost recesses of the mind through the incorruptible washing; nor ought we to wonder why after baptism we think shameful things together with honourable ones: for holy baptism wipes away from us the stain of sin, but it does not now change that twofold will of ours; nor does it prevent the demons from assailing us, or from using words to deceive, namely so that what we did not keep when placed in that natural state we may keep by the power of God, having taken up the arms of righteousness.
CAPUT LXXIX.
CHAPTER LXXIX.
Quando in profundo cordis, id est in mente ipsa habitet gratia Dei, et quomodo ibi nihil possit daemon operari, et quomodo et per quas partes operantur daemones in anima, et quomodo mens nostra condelectetur legi spiritus, et de gaudio spiritali, unde et quando exsistat.
When the grace of God dwells in the depth of the heart, that is, in the mind itself, and how the demon can work nothing there; and how and through which parts the demons work in the soul; and how our mind delights in the law of the spirit; and on spiritual joy, whence and when it arises.
Satanas, ut dixi, ab anima per sanctum baptismum excluditur; permittitur tamen ei ob eas quas dixi causas operari in ea per corpus; gratia Dei in profundo animae, id est in ipsa mente habitat. Omnis namque gloria filiae Regis ab intus, ut ait Propheta, daemonibus inaspectabilis. Quocirca desiderium Dei ex ipso, quasi profundo cordis veluti scaturire sentimus, quando Dei ferventer recordamur; mali vero spiritus in sensus corporis deinceps insiliunt, ibique delitescunt, in iis operantes, cum est carnis opportunitas, qui sunt adhuc anima puerili. Ad hunc igitur modum mens nostra, secundum Apostolum, semper legi spiritus condelectatur: ipsi vero sensus corporis blanditiis et illecebris voluptatum capi volunt. Unde gratia quidem in iis qui processus in cognitione faciunt, per sensum mentis delectationem gignit, ita ut mirabili eos gaudio exsultare faciat. Daemones vero cum nos rursus viderint cursum pietatis negligenter currentes, animam per sensus corporis captivam ducunt, violenter illam quidem interfectores illi ad ea quae renuit provocantes.
Satan, as I have said, is shut out of the soul through holy baptism; yet he is permitted, for the reasons I have given, to work in it through the body; the grace of God dwells in the depth of the soul, that is, in the mind itself. For all the glory of the King's daughter is from within, as the Prophet says, invisible to the demons. Therefore we feel the desire of God welling up as it were from the very depth of the heart, when we remember God fervently; but the evil spirits thereafter leap into the senses of the body and lurk there, working in them, when the flesh gives the opportunity, in those who are still childish in soul. In this way, then, our mind, according to the Apostle, always delights in the law of the spirit, while the senses of the body themselves wish to be caught by the blandishments and allurements of pleasures. Hence grace, in those who make progress in knowledge, begets delight through the sense of the mind, so that it makes them exult with wonderful joy. But the demons, when they see us again running the course of piety negligently, lead the soul captive through the senses of the body, those murderers violently provoking it to the things it has refused.
CAPUT LXXX.
CHAPTER LXXX.
Quomodo in cordibus fidelium non possint simul insidere spiritus gratiae, et spiritus peccati, ut quidam opinati sunt, male interpretantes illud Joannis evangelistae, Et tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt; et quomodo hoc Paulus interpretatus sit in Epist. ad Philipp. III, 12.
How the spirit of grace and the spirit of sin cannot reside together in the hearts of the faithful, as some have supposed, misinterpreting that saying of John the Evangelist, And the darkness did not comprehend it; and how Paul interpreted this in the Epistle to the Philippians 3:12.
Qui aiunt duas personas, spiritum scilicet gratiae, et spiritum peccati in cordibus fidelium simul insidere, ex eo quod evangelista dixit: Et lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt, opinionem suam probare volunt, dicentes non inquinari divinum splendorem spiritus mali congressu, quomodocunque divinum in anima lumen ad tenebras daemonis propius accedat. Ipsis tamen Evangelii verbis a sanctis Scripturis dissentire probantur. Quia enim Verbum Dei voluit, ut verum lumen suum per carnem suam hominibus appareret, incenso in nobis ob nimiam ejus benevolentiam lumine cognitionis, prudentia vero mundi consilium Dei
Those who say that two persons, namely the spirit of grace and the spirit of sin, reside together in the hearts of the faithful wish to prove their opinion from what the Evangelist said: And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it; saying that the divine splendour is not defiled by encounter with the evil spirit, however near the divine light in the soul may come to the darkness of the demon. Yet by the very words of the Gospel they are shown to disagree with the holy Scriptures. For since the Word of God willed that His true light should appear to men through His flesh, the light of knowledge having been kindled in us because of His exceeding benevolence, while the prudence of the world […] the counsel of God […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1196
Footnotes
(50) ‹ut ait Propheta› · printed under cols 1195–1196 (full width)
Psal. XLIV, 14.
Ps. 44:14.
(51) ‹legi spiritus condelectatur› · printed under cols 1195–1196 (full width)
Rom. VII, 22.
Rom. 7:22.
(52) ‹tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt› · printed under cols 1195–1196 (full width)
Joan. I, 5.
John 1:5.
Page
- running head: 1195 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1196 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹multiformem illum serpentem›; B ‹nostra condelectetur legi spiritus› (caption of CAPUT LXXIX); C ‹ctatur : ipsi vero sensus corporis›; D ‹Qui aiunt duas personas›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the call figures at 50–52 are partly legible and agree with the sequence. The R of "Rom." in note 51 is broken (reads like "Bom.").
non comprehendit: siquidem prudentia carnis inimica Dei est: ob hanc causam usus est Joannes hujusmodi verbo, atque paucis interjectis, subjungit evangelista: Erat lux vera, quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum, id est, est dux viae ostendendae, ac vitam praestat; in mundo erat, et mundus per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum non cognovit; in propria venit, et sui eum non receperunt; quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri, iis qui credunt in nomine ejus. Ait autem apostolus Paulus interpretans illud, non comprehenderunt: — Non quod acceperim jam, aut jam perfectus sim, persequor autem, ut comprehendam, in quo et comprehensus sum a Christo Jesu. Itaque non dicit evangelista, non comprehendisse Satanam verum lumen; ab initio enim alienus est ab eo, siquidem non lucet in ipso: sed potius homines ipsos, qui audiebant quidem potentias et mirabilia Filii Dei, sed propter erroris tenebras cordi offusas, ad lumen cognitionis ejus accedere nolebant, merito verbo illo vituperat.
[…] did not comprehend [it]: since the prudence of the flesh is hostile to God. For this reason John used such a word, and, a few things coming between, the Evangelist adds: That was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world, that is, it is the guide for showing the way, and bestows life; He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him; He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him; but as many as received Him, to them He gave power to become sons of God, to those who believe in His name. And the apostle Paul, interpreting that "did not comprehend", says: Not that I have already received, or am already perfect; but I press on, that I may comprehend that for which I also have been comprehended by Christ Jesus. So the Evangelist does not say that Satan did not comprehend the true light, for he has been a stranger to it from the beginning, since it does not shine in him; but rather he rightly reproaches with that word men themselves, who heard indeed of the mighty works and wonders of the Son of God, but because of the darkness of error poured over their heart would not approach the light of His knowledge.
CAPUT LXXXI.
CHAPTER LXXXI.
De duplici genere malorum spirituum, partim cum anima, partim cum corpore luctantium; et quomodo tentent, cum anima est extra gratiam Dei, et quomodo, cum non est; et quomodo utrisque resistendum; et de tentatione, quando tentat daemon suggerendo, ut naturam humanam contemnamus, quia sit mortalis; et quomodo sit tunc occurrendum.
On the twofold kind of evil spirits, some wrestling with the soul, others with the body; and how they tempt when the soul is outside the grace of God, and how when it is not; and how both are to be resisted; and on the temptation when the demon tempts by suggesting that we despise human nature because it is mortal; and how it is then to be met.
Duo esse veluti genera malorum spirituum docet nos spiritualis cognitio. Alii enim sunt tanquam subtiliores, alii crassiores. Subtiliores igitur animam oppugnant, crassiores vero quibusdam sordidis cogitationibus carnem ducere captivam soliti sunt: quamobrem daemones qui cum anima luctantur, et qui cum corpore, sibi ipsi sunt adversarii, tametsi par utrisque studium ac propositum nocendi hominibus. Cum ergo non habitat gratia in homine, tunc in profundo cordis instar quidem serpentis delitescunt, non sinentes omnino animam ad cupiditatem boni aspicere. Cum vero gratia in mente est abdita, tunc tanquam nubes quaedam caliginosae deinceps per partes cordis in passiones peccati discurrunt induti varias formas distractionum, ut memoriam mentis distrahentes, illam ipsam mentem ab usu et familiaritate gratiae divellant. Quando igitur a daemonibus, qui animae sunt infesti, ad passiones animae inflammamur, ac potissimum quidem ad elationem quae est omnium malorum parens, si interitum corporis cogitamus, inflatos esse, et gloriae cupidos magnopere nos pudet; idem autem facere oportet, cum daemones, quibus cum corpore luctatio est, ⟨e⟩o nos praeparant, ut cor nostrum in turpia desideria effervescat; haec enim recordatio mortis potest omnes varietates malorum spirituum per memoriam Dei frustrare. Quod si daemones isti subtiliores, qui animas impugnant,
Spiritual knowledge teaches us that there are, as it were, two kinds of evil spirits. For some are, as it were, more subtle, others coarser. The more subtle, then, attack the soul, while the coarser are wont to lead the flesh captive by certain foul thoughts; wherefore the demons who wrestle with the soul and those who wrestle with the body are adversaries to one another, although both have the same zeal and purpose of harming men. When, therefore, grace does not dwell in a man, they lurk like a serpent in the depth of the heart, not allowing the soul to look at all towards the desire of the good. But when grace is hidden in the mind, then like certain dark clouds they range thereafter through the parts of the heart into the passions of sin, clothed in various forms of distraction, so that, distracting the remembrance of the mind, they may tear that very mind away from the use of and familiarity with grace. When, therefore, we are inflamed by the demons that are hostile to the soul towards the passions of the soul, and above all towards pride, which is the parent of all evils, if we think of the dissolution of the body, we are greatly ashamed to be puffed up and greedy for glory; and we must do the same when the demons whose wrestling is with the body so work upon us that our heart boils up in shameful desires; for this remembrance of death can, through the remembrance of God, frustrate all the varieties of evil spirits. But if those more subtle demons, who assail souls, […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1197
Footnotes
(53) ‹prudentia carnis inimica Dei est› · printed under cols 1197–1198 (full width)
Rom. VIII, 7.
Rom. 8:7.
(54) ‹iis qui credunt in nomine ejus› · printed under cols 1197–1198 (full width)
Joan. I, 9-12.
John 1:9–12.
(55) ‹comprehensus sum a Christo Jesu› · printed under cols 1197–1198 (full width)
Philipp. III, 12.
Phil. 3:12.
Page
- running head: 1197 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1198 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹non comprehendit : siquidem› (gutter, shared with col 1198); B ‹tanam verum lumen; ab initio›; C ‹nos spiritualis cognitio. Alii enim›; D ‹lant. Quando igitur a daemonibus› (in the gutter, a line or so above)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: damaged type ⟨e⟩o (e broken into the shape of c, "co nos praeparant").
nobis de hac cogitatione mortis, ut naturam humanam infinito despectui habeamus, suadeant, quasi propter carnem intereuntem nullius pretii aut honoris sit: hoc enim facere solent, cum quis ⟨e⟩os hujusmodi cogitatione mortalitatis torquere vult; restat, ut coelestis regni decus et gloriam cogitemus, acerbitatem et tenebras judicii interim non negligentes, ut altero levitatem cordis nostri premamus, altero tristitiam nostram consolemur.
[…] should persuade us from this thought of death to hold human nature in boundless contempt, as though because of the perishing flesh it were of no worth or honour (for they are wont to do this when someone wishes to torment them with such a thought of mortality), it remains for us to think of the beauty and glory of the heavenly kingdom, while not neglecting meanwhile the bitterness and darkness of the judgement, so that by the one we may press down the levity of our heart and by the other console our sadness.
CAPUT LXXXII.
CHAPTER LXXXII.
Quomodo, quandiu est aliquis in gratia Dei, non potest diabolus esse in corde ejus; quomodo, et ubi hoc doceat Paulus; et quomodo pugnet diabolus cum iis qui sunt in gratia Dei; et quomodo cum iis qui sunt extra gratiam; et quomodo, qui perfecte pugnet cum diabolo, non potest diabolus carnem ejus ad voluptatis illecebras pellicere, ut Paulum et similes.
How, as long as someone is in the grace of God, the devil cannot be in his heart; how and where Paul teaches this; and how the devil fights with those who are in the grace of God, and how with those who are outside grace; and how, when someone fights perfectly with the devil, the devil cannot entice his flesh to the allurements of pleasure, as with Paul and those like him.
Docuit nos Deus in Evangelio, quemadmodum cum reversus Satanas reperit domum suam scopis mundatam et vacantem, id est, reperit cor infrugiferum, tunc accipit septem alios spiritus, et ingreditur in eam, latetque intus efficiens novissima hominis illius pejora prioribus. Unde advertendum est, quandiu in nobis est Spiritus sanctus, non posse Satanam ingressum in profundo animae residere, imo et Paulus aperte docet nos hujus contemplationis intelligentiam; contemplatus enim hujus quaestionis genus, ex scientia quidem certandi hunc sermonem profert, Condelector, inquit, legi Dei, secundum hominem interiorem. Video autem aliam legem in corpore meo repugnantem legi mentis meae, et captivantem me in lege peccati, quae est in membris meis; ex perfectione vero illum: Nihil igitur damnationis in Christo Jesu: lex enim spiritus vitae liberavit me a lege peccati et mortis. Dicit praeterea in alio loco, ut rursus doceat nos, ex corpore oppugnari a Satana animam Spiritus sancti participem: State igitur succincti lumbos vestros in veritate, et induti loricam justitiae, calceati pedes in praeparationem Evangelii pacis, in omnibus sumentes scutum fidei, in quo possitis omnia tela nequissimi ignea exstinguere; et galeam salutis assum⟨i⟩te; et gladium spiritus, quod est verbum Dei. Aliud est, captivam duci, aliud luctari: illud significat, per vim abduci; hoc aequis viribus certare. Unde Apostolus diabolum ait animas Christum in se ipsis ferentes, cum igneis telis invadere. Ut enim qui non potest eum, cum quo certat, prehendere, jaculis omnino utitur adversus eum, ut possit pugnantem eminus pennis telorum venari; sic Satanas, quia non potest propter praesentiam charitatis occultari, sicut prius, in mente luctantium, volitat deinceps super humorem, ac latitat in corpore, ut facilitate ejus animam lact⟨e⟩t et pelliceat: quocirca oportet moderate eum extenuare, ne mens per humorem ejus ad illecebras voluptatum labatur. Credendum enim est Apostolo, in mente
God taught us in the Gospel how, when Satan returns and finds his house swept with brooms and empty, that is, finds the heart unfruitful, he then takes seven other spirits and enters into it, and lurks within, making the last state of that man worse than the first. Hence it must be noted that, as long as the Holy Spirit is in us, Satan cannot enter and reside in the depth of the soul; indeed Paul too plainly teaches us the understanding of this contemplation; for, having contemplated the nature of this question, he utters this saying from the knowledge of combat: I delight, he says, in the law of God according to the inner man; but I see another law in my body warring against the law of my mind, and taking me captive in the law of sin, which is in my members; but that other from perfection: There is therefore no condemnation in Christ Jesus: for the law of the spirit of life has freed me from the law of sin and death. He says moreover in another place, to teach us again that the soul which partakes of the Holy Spirit is attacked by Satan from the body: Stand therefore, having your loins girded in truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, your feet shod in the preparation of the Gospel of peace, in all things taking up the shield of faith, with which you may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the most wicked one; and take up the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. It is one thing to be led captive, another to wrestle: the former signifies being carried off by force, the latter contending with equal strength. Hence the Apostle says that the devil attacks with fiery darts the souls that bear Christ in themselves. For as one who cannot lay hold of the man with whom he contends uses darts against him with all his might, so that he may hunt down his opponent from afar with the feathers of his missiles, so Satan, because on account of the presence of charity he cannot hide in the mind of those who wrestle, as before, thereafter hovers over the humour of the body and lurks in the body, so that through its pliancy he may beguile and entice the soul; wherefore we must moderately waste the body, lest the mind slip through its humour into the allurements of pleasures. For we must believe the Apostle that in the mind […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1198
Footnotes
(56) ‹hominis illius pejora prioribus› · printed under cols 1197–1198 (full width)
Matth. XII, 44-45; II Petr. II, 20.
Matt. 12:44–45; 2 Pet. 2:20.
(57) ‹quae est in membris meis› · printed under cols 1197–1198 (full width)
Rom. VII, 22, 23.
Rom. 7:22, 23.
(58) ‹a lege peccati et mortis› · printed under cols 1197–1198 (full width)
Rom. VIII, 1, 2.
Rom. 8:1, 2.
(59) ‹quod est verbum Dei› · printed under cols 1197–1198 (full width)
Ephes. VI, 14-17.
Eph. 6:14–17.
(60) ‹Credendum enim est Apostolo› · printed under cols 1197–1198 (full width)
Rom. VII, 22.
Rom. 7:22.
Page
- running head: 1197 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1198 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹nobis de hac cogitatione mortis›; B ‹carnem ejus ad voluptatis illecebras› (caption of CAPUT LXXXII); C ‹legem in corpore meo repugnantem›; D ‹stolus diabolum ait animas›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: in note 56 the "II" of "II Petr." is broken into the shape of "u"; set II. Damaged type in the text: ⟨e⟩os (e printed like c), assum⟨i⟩te (visible gap), lact⟨e⟩t.
quidem eorum qui in certamine su⟨n⟩t, divinum lumen operari, ex quo fiat, ut legi Dei serviat eaque delectetur. Caro enim pravis applaudit, suaque facilitate admittit spiritus: quae causa est, ut ad famulandum nequitiae eorum aliquando trahatur. Ex quo maxime apparet non esse mentem commune Dei et diaboli domicilium: alioqui quomodo illud diceret: Mente quidem servio legi Dei, carne vero legi peccati, nisi mens mea cum omni libertate in pugna contra daemones staret bonitati gratiae serviens, corpus vero suavem odorem voluptatum a ratione abhorrentium admitteret? quia ut dixi, sinuntur mali et fallaces daemones in corpore eorum qui certant absconditi esse (Scio enim, inquit, quod non habitat in me, id est, in carne mea bonum), in iis scilicet qui medio quodam certamine peccato resistunt; non enim hoc Apostolus de se dicit, cum mente quidem pugnam daemones committere; carnem vero, ut ad illecebras voluptatum blandis consolationibus emolliant ac dissolvant, eosdem conari; permittuntur enim judicio versari in profundo corporis etiam in iis qui robuste adversus peccatum dimicant, quia sit semper experienda et periclitanda libertas humanae voluntatis. At si quis queat adhuc vivens mori per labores, totus deinceps domus Spiritus sancti fit; hic enim priusquam moriatur, surrexit, qualis Paulus, et quicunque perfecte cum peccato certarunt et certant.
[…] of those who are in the contest the divine light works, whence it comes about that it serves the law of God and delights in it. For the flesh applauds the wicked [spirits] and through its pliancy admits them: which is the reason why it is sometimes drawn to serve their wickedness. From this it is most evident that the mind is not a common dwelling of God and the devil; otherwise how could he say: With the mind I serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin, unless my mind stood with all freedom in the fight against the demons, serving the goodness of grace, while the body admitted the sweet odour of pleasures that are abhorrent to reason? For, as I have said, the evil and deceitful demons are allowed to be hidden in the body of those who contend (for I know, he says, that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh), namely in those who resist sin in a middling sort of contest; for the Apostle does not say this of himself, [meaning] that the demons join battle with the mind, while they try to soften and loosen the flesh towards the allurements of pleasures by coaxing consolations; for by judgement they are permitted to move about in the depth of the body even in those who fight strongly against sin, because the freedom of the human will must always be tried and put to the test. But if anyone, while still living, can die through labours, he becomes thereafter wholly a house of the Holy Spirit; for such a man has risen before he dies, as Paul did, and whoever have contended and contend perfectly against sin.
CAPUT LXXXIII.
CHAPTER LXXXIII.
Quomodo, et unde cor malas cogitationes gignat, et quare cogitationes etiam a diabolo nobis suggestae, ex corde exire dicantur in Evangelio.
How and whence the heart begets evil thoughts; and why thoughts, even those suggested to us by the devil, are said in the Gospel to come out of the heart.
Cogitationes quidem tum bonas, tum non bonas gignit ex se cor, non quidem quod malas cogitationes naturaliter ferat, sed quod propter primam illam fallaciam tanquam habitum quemdam memoriae ejus, quod non est bonum, semel ceperit, plurimas vero, easdemque malas cogitationes ex amarulentia daemonum concipit; universas vero ex cordibus nostris proficisci sentimus: ex quo factum est, ut nonnulli existimarent, peccatum esse in anima pariter cum gratia: atque idcirco Dominum dixisse, quae ex ore exeunt, ex corde exire, et illa hominem inquinare: Ex corde enim, inquit, exeunt cogitationes malae. Sed ignorant isti, quemadmodum mens nostra, quae sensu quodam subtilissimo utitur, illarum cogitationum operationem, quas mali spiritus ei suggerunt, quasi per carnem sibi vindicat, corporis facilitate magis ad hoc, nescio quomodo, animam per concretionem trahente. Si quidem semper anima assentationes et blanditias fallaciae immoderate amat, ob hanc causam cogitationes a daemonibus seminatae ex corde videntur prodire; eas autem nostras revera ipsi facimus, quoties illis delectari volumus. Quod quidem cum Dominus reprehenderet, ut Scriptura ipsa divina declarat, iis verbis, quae supra cap. 82 recitavimus,
The heart does indeed beget of itself thoughts both good and not good; not that it bears evil thoughts by nature, but because, on account of that first deceit, it has once taken on as it were a certain habit of remembering what is not good; but most thoughts, and those evil ones, it conceives from the bitterness of the demons; yet we feel that all of them proceed from our hearts. Hence it has come about that some have supposed that sin is in the soul together with grace, and that for this reason the Lord said that the things that come out of the mouth come out of the heart and defile a man: for, He says, out of the heart come forth evil thoughts. But these men do not know how our mind, which uses a certain most subtle sense, claims for itself as it were through the flesh the working of those thoughts which the evil spirits suggest to it, the pliancy of the body drawing the soul, I know not how, the more towards this through their union. Since the soul always loves immoderately the flatteries and blandishments of deceit, for this reason the thoughts sown by the demons seem to come forth from the heart; but we ourselves truly make them our own whenever we choose to take delight in them. When the Lord rebuked this, as the divine Scripture itself declares, in the words which we recited above in chapter 82, […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1199
Footnotes
(61) ‹carne vero legi peccati› · printed under col 1199
Rom. VII, 25.
Rom. 7:25.
(62) ‹in carne mea bonum› · printed under col 1199
ibid. 18.
ibid. 18.
(63) ‹exeunt cogitationes malae› · printed under col 1199
Matth. XV, 19.
Matt. 15:19.
Page
- running head: 1199 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1200 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹quidem eorum qui in certamine› (gutter, shared with col 1200); B ‹carne mea bonum), in iis scilicet› (gutter, a line lower); C (gutter, level with the heading CAPUT LXXXIII); D ‹hominem inquinare : Ex corde enim›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column ends with a whole word ("recitavimus,"), no hyphen into col 1200. Note 64, printed after note 63 at the foot of the page, is not called in this column; left to col 1200 (DC04). "Si quidem" is printed as two words across a line end, without hyphen; set as two words. Damaged type: su⟨n⟩t.
usa est. Qui enim cogitationibus, quas improbitas Satanae subjicit animae delectatur, earumque memoriam cordi suo veluti inscribit, non est dubium, quin eas ipsas ex mente sua, veluti fructus effundat.
[…] it used. For whoever delights in the thoughts which the wickedness of Satan suggests to the soul, and as it were inscribes the memory of them on his heart, there is no doubt that he pours out those very things from his own mind like fruits.
CAPUT LXXXIV.
CHAPTER LXXXIV.
Quomodo non possint esse simul in corde hominis gratia Dei et diabolus, et de exemplo ad hoc declarandum et intelligendum.
How the grace of God and the devil cannot be together in the heart of man; and on an example for declaring and understanding this.
Ait Dominus in Evangelio, non posse fortem domo sua ejici, nisi fortior ejiciat, postquam eum alligaverit et diripuerit. Quomodo igitur poterit cum tanto ejectus dedecore, rursus ingredi, et una cum vero versari domino domi suae quandiu vult requiescenti? nunquam enim rex, cum tyrannum aliquem devicerit, qui adversarius suus aliquando fuerit, in regia secum adesse cogitabit: quin potius statim jugulabit, aut certe militibus suis alligatum tradet, ut diuturnum supplicium de eo sumant, eumque miserrima morte afficiant.
The Lord says in the Gospel that the strong man cannot be cast out of his house unless a stronger one casts him out, after he has bound and plundered him. How then will he, cast out with such great disgrace, be able to enter again and dwell together with the true master, who rests in his own house as long as he wishes? For a king, when he has vanquished some tyrant who was once his adversary, will never think of having him beside him in the palace; rather he will at once cut his throat, or at least hand him over bound to his soldiers, so that they may exact a long punishment from him and put him to a most miserable death.
CAPUT LXXXV.
CHAPTER LXXXV.
Unde accidat quod simul honesta et turpia quandoque cogitamus; et quando, ac cur gratia praesentiam suam menti celet; et quid tunc faciendum sit; et quomodo inter caeteras omnes virtutes nihil possidere maxime conciliet gratiam Dei ad amandum eum vehementer; et cur aliquando etiam is qui magnos progressus in virtute fecit, permittatur potestati daemonis, relicta ejus mente sine lumine.
Whence it happens that we sometimes think honourable and shameful things at the same time; and when and why grace hides its presence from the mind; and what is then to be done; and how among all the other virtues possessing nothing most of all wins the grace of God so as to love Him vehemently; and why sometimes even one who has made great progress in virtue is allowed into the power of the demon, his mind being left without light.
Si quis, quia honesta simul et turpia cogitamus, Spiritum sanctum et diabolum in mente habitare eo tempore arbitratur, intelligat id accidere, quia nondum gustavimus, neque vidimus, quam bonus Dominus. Primum enim, ut superius dixi, celat gratia praesentiam suam in baptizatis, exspectans propositum animae; cum vero se quis ex toto ad Dominum converterit, tunc sensu quodam inexplicabili declarat se adesse praesentem in corde; ac rursus motionem animae exspectat, permittit tamen tela daemonis usque ad profundum sensum pertingere, ut fervidiore proposito, ac submisso animo affectus Deum quaerat. Si ergo incipiat deinceps in observatione mandatorum progredi, ac Dominum Jesum sine intermissione imploret, tunc ignis sanctae gratiae sensus etiam cordis exteriores depascit, zizania humanae terrae plene exurendo; ex quo fit, ut procul ab illis locis insidiae daemonis abscedant, illam partem animae quae passionibus commovetur, sensim ac leniter deinceps stimulantes. Cum vero qui certat, virtutes omnes, tanquam nodo connectit, ac maxima omnium virtutum, nihil penitus possidendi, tunc totam ipsius naturam profundiore quodam sensu gratia collustrat circumfovens deinceps ad amandum Deum vehementer, quocirca tunc extra sensus corporis ignei daemonum arcus exstinguuntur: aura enim Spiritus sancti, quae ad flatus pacis cor movet, tela igniferi daemonis in aerem allata exstinguit: permittit tamen aliquando Deus malitiae daemonis eum etiam, qui hos progressus
If anyone, because we think honourable and shameful things at the same time, supposes that the Holy Spirit and the devil dwell in the mind at that time, let him understand that this happens because we have not yet tasted nor seen how good the Lord is. For at first, as I said above, grace hides its presence in the baptized, awaiting the purpose of the soul; but when someone has turned wholly to the Lord, then by a certain inexpressible sense it declares that it is present in the heart; and again it awaits the movement of the soul, yet it allows the darts of the demon to reach even to the deep sense, so that he may seek God, moved by a more fervent purpose and a humbled spirit. If therefore he then begins to advance in the keeping of the commandments, and calls upon the Lord Jesus without ceasing, then the fire of holy grace consumes even the outer senses of the heart, burning up completely the tares of the human earth; whence it comes about that the snares of the demon depart far from those places, goading thereafter only gently and little by little that part of the soul which is stirred by the passions. But when he who strives binds all the virtues together as with a knot, and by the greatest of all the virtues, that of possessing nothing at all, then grace illumines his whole nature with a certain deeper sense, cherishing it on every side thereafter so as to love God vehemently; wherefore the fiery bows of the demons are then extinguished outside the senses of the body: for the breeze of the Holy Spirit, which moves the heart to the breaths of peace, extinguishes the darts of the fire-bearing demon when they are carried into the air. Yet God sometimes permits to the malice of the demon even him who has made these advances […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1200
Footnotes
(64) ‹et diripuerit› · printed under col 1199, after note 63, at the gutter (pointer in n1199)
Matth. XII, 29.
Matt. 12:29.
(65) ‹quam bonus Dominus› · printed under col 1200
Psal. XXXIII, 9.
Ps. 33:9.
Page
- running head: 1199 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1200 (across the page; only the right half, "…RCI DIADOCHI 1200", seen)
- marginal letters: A ‹usa est. Qui enim›; B ‹aliquem devicerit›; C ‹eo tempore arbitratur›; D ‹zizania humanae terrae›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with "usa est", a whole word continuing the sentence of col 1199 (which ends "recitavimus," with no hyphen), so no word crosses the 1199/1200 break. The footnotes of the page (61–65) run in one line under both columns; 61–63 are called in col 1199. The last word, "progressus", is hyphenated across into col 1201 and set whole here. Note numbers read by sequence (small figures).
fecit, relicta tunc mente ejus sine lumine: ne scilicet potestas voluntatis nostrae liberae, vinculo gratiae sit prorsus alligata; non solum quia luctando peccatum vincitur, sed etiam quia debet homo adhuc ad spiritualem experientiam proficere: quod enim in eo, qui eruditur, perfectum existimatur, si cum divitiis erudientis Dei comparetur, imperfectum est in magnificentia charitatis, quam eis processu laborum totam quis scalam ostensam Jacob possit ascendere.
[…] his mind being then left without light: that is, so that the power of our free will may not be wholly bound by the chain of grace; not only because sin is conquered by wrestling, but also because a man must still advance towards spiritual experience: for what is reckoned perfect in one who is being instructed, if it is compared with the riches of God who instructs him, is imperfect in the magnificence of charity, by which, through the advance of these labours, one may climb the whole ladder shown to Jacob.
CAPUT LXXXVI.
CHAPTER LXXXVI.
Rursus quomodo gratia Dei non possit una cum diabolo habitare in mente hominis, et de duplici decessione gratiae Dei, secundum eruditionem, et secundum aversionem; et quare gratia Dei se aliquando abscondat menti; et de exemplo familiari ad id ostendendum.
Again, how the grace of God cannot dwell together with the devil in the mind of man; and on the twofold withdrawal of the grace of God, by way of instruction and by way of aversion; and why the grace of God sometimes hides itself from the mind; and on a familiar example to show this.
Dominus est qui ait, Satanam veluti fulgur e coelo cecidisse, ut in angelorum domicilium deformis ille non aspiciat. Quomodo ergo qui vel communione bonorum ministrorum non est habitus dignus, una cum Deo in mente hominis habitare potest? At dicent fieri hoc secundum decessionem. Sed nihil amplius proficiunt: decedere enim Deum ad erudiendum, non privat animam divino lumine. Saepe enim gratia, ut jam dixi, praesentiam solum suam menti celat, ut acerbitate et molestia daemonum animam veluti impellat, ut cum omni metu ac magna submissione auxilium Dei quaerat, malitiam inimici sui paulatim agnoscens, quemadmodum si mater puerulum suum lactentem et leges sugendi detrectantem paulisper ab ulnis suis repelleret, ut perterritus a quibusdam deformibus hominibus circumstantibus, aut bestiis qualibuscunqne, ad sinus matris cum magno timore et lacrymis revertatur; illa vero decessio gratiae, quae per aversionem Dei fit, animam, quae Deum habere non vult, daemonibus velut vinctam tradit. At nos non sumus filii subtractionis. Avertat Deus! Sed credimus esse nos filios gratiae Dei legitimos, qui parvis ejus decessionibus et crebris consolationibus tanquam lacte alimur, ut per bonitatem ejus in viros perfectos et mensuram aetatis plenitudinis Christi evadamus.
It is the Lord who says that Satan fell like lightning from heaven, so that that deformed one may not look upon the dwelling of the angels. How then can he who was not held worthy even of the communion of the good ministers dwell together with God in the mind of man? But they will say that this happens by way of withdrawal. But they gain nothing further: for God's withdrawing in order to instruct does not deprive the soul of the divine light. For often grace, as I have already said, hides only its presence from the mind, so that by the bitterness and harassment of the demons it may as it were drive the soul to seek the help of God with all fear and great submission, recognizing little by little the malice of its enemy; just as if a mother were to push her little suckling child away from her arms for a while when it refuses the rules of sucking, so that, terrified by some ugly men standing round, or by beasts of whatever kind, it may return to its mother's bosom with great fear and tears; but that withdrawal of grace which comes about through turning away from God hands over the soul that does not wish to have God to the demons as though bound. But we are not sons of withdrawal. God forbid! But we believe that we are legitimate sons of the grace of God, who are nourished as with milk by its small withdrawals and frequent consolations, so that by its goodness we may come to perfect men and to the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ.
CAPUT LXXXVII.
CHAPTER LXXXVII.
Decedere gratiam Dei ad eruditionem, quid boni afferat homini; et rursus quid mali decedere secundum aversionem; et quid in utraque decessione faciendum nobis sit; et quare aliquando gratia Dei auxilium suum in anima celet daemonibus.
What good it brings to man that the grace of God withdraws for instruction; and again what evil [it brings] that it withdraws by way of aversion; and what we must do in each withdrawal; and why the grace of God sometimes hides its help in the soul from the demons.
Decessio gratiae ad erudiendum, affert quidem animae multum doloris ac submissionis, et desperationem moderatam, ut ea pars animae, quae studio gloriae et admirationis capitur, decenter se submittat; continuo tamen affert cordi timorem Dei, et lacrymas confessionis, ac vehemens desiderium optimi silentii. Decessio vero per aversionem Dei facta animam repleri sinit desperatione simul et diffidentia atque ira et elatione. Quare oportet,
The withdrawal of grace for instruction brings indeed to the soul much sorrow and humbling, and a moderate despair, so that that part of the soul which is caught by the eagerness for glory and admiration may fittingly submit itself; yet it at once brings to the heart the fear of God, and tears of confession, and a vehement desire for the best silence. But the withdrawal made through turning away from God lets the soul be filled with despair together with distrust, and with anger and elation. Wherefore it is fitting […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1201
Footnotes
(66) ‹Jacob possit ascendere› · printed under col 1201
Gen. XXVIII, 12.
Gen. 28:12.
(67) ‹coelo cecidisse› · printed under col 1201
Luc. X, 18.
Luke 10:18.
(68) ‹filii subtractionis› · printed under col 1201
Hebr. X, 39.
Heb. 10:39.
(69) ‹Christi evadamus› · printed under col 1202
Ephes. IV, 13.
Eph. 4:13.
Page
- running head: 1201 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1202 (across the page; left half seen)
- marginal letters: A ‹sus fecit, relicta›; B ‹ad id ostendendum›; C ‹dum si mater›; D ‹Decedere gratiam Dei›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with "sus fecit", the end of "progressus", hyphenated from col 1200 and set whole there. Note 69 is called here (last line of chapter LXXXVI) but printed under col 1202; set here, pointer in n1202. Several line openings in the lower third are edge-cropped (anim-, tionem, gloriae, tat, lacrymas, optimi, Facta, diffidentia) and set plain. Misprint: "qualibuscunqne" (n for u). The figure of note 68's verse could be read 59; Heb. 10:39 is the verse quoted. No word crosses the 1201/1202 break ("oportet," ends the column).
cum utramque decessionem experientia didicerimus, ut utriusque earum modus requirit, ad Deum accedere; in altera quidem gratias cum defensione agere debemus, quod privatione consolationis intemperantiam voluntatis nostrae castigarit, ut nos tanquam bonus pater virtutis et vitii differentiam doceret; in hac vero perpetuam peccatorum confessionem, et omni tempore lacrymas ac majorem secessionem adhibere oportet, ut sic Deum accessione laborum ad respicienda, sicut antea, corda nostra flectere possimus. Advertendum tamen est, quod cum ipse Satanas per se pugnam cum anima committit, in decessione, inquam, gratiae, quae fit ad erudiendum, subducit quidem seipsam, ut dixi, gratia, quodam tamen ignoto et occulto auxilio animam adjuvat, ut inimicis ejus ostendat animae esse victoriam.
[…] when we have learned both withdrawals by experience, to approach God as the manner of each of them requires: in the one we ought to give thanks together with a defence, because by the deprivation of consolation He has chastised the intemperance of our will, so as to teach us, like a good father, the difference between virtue and vice; but in the other we must employ perpetual confession of sins, and tears at all times, and a greater retirement, so that thus, by the addition of labours, we may be able to bend God to look upon our hearts, as before. It must be noted, however, that when Satan himself joins battle with the soul by himself (in the withdrawal, I mean, of grace that comes about for instruction), grace indeed withdraws itself, as I have said, yet it helps the soul with a certain unknown and hidden aid, so as to show its enemies that the victory belongs to the soul.
CAPUT LXXXVIII.
CHAPTER LXXXVIII.
Quomodo Spiritus sanctus principio gratiam suam operetur in inchoantibus vitam spiritualem, et de exemplo naturali ad hoc intelligendum: et unde factum sit, ut mens etiam nolens eodem tempore honesta et turpia cogitet; et qui sint qui spiritualia tantum cogitant, et quomodo id contingat.
How the Holy Spirit at the beginning works His grace in those who are beginning the spiritual life, and on a natural example for understanding this; and whence it has come about that the mind, even against its will, thinks honourable and shameful things at the same time; and who they are who think only spiritual things, and how this comes about.
Quemadmodum cum quis hiberno tempore alicubi sub aperto coelo mane se totum ad orientem vertit, priores quidem partes omnes corporis a sole calescunt, posteriores vero omnes sunt expertes caloris, quia non sol supra caput ejus, sic evenit iis qui sunt in initio spiritualis operationis, scilicet cor eorum teporem divinae gratiae ex parte admittit. Unde fructus tunc spiritualium cogitationum incipit mens effundere, partes vero cordis patentes, secundum carnem sapiunt, quod nondum intimo seusu omnia cordis membra lumine sanetae gratiae illustrentur. Quod quidem nonnulli cum non intelligerent, duas personas tanquam sibi inter se adversarias in mente certantium esse cogitaverunt; sic igitur accidit, ut anima honesta, et non honesta eodem puncto temporis cogitet; sicut homo, cujus exemplum supra posuimus, eodem temporis spatio friget et tepescit. Ex quo enim mens nostra in duplicem cognitionem delap⟨s⟩a est, necesse habet, ut eodem momento, quamvis nolens, honesta et turpia cogitata ferat, ii praesertim qui ad subtilitatem discernendi veniunt. Semper enim ut mens properat aliquid honesti considerare, continuo subit recordatio mali, quod sit memoria mentis nostrae propter peccatum Adae non obedientis in duplicem quamdam divisa cogitationem. Si igitur mandata Dei zelo perficere incipiamus, deinceps gratia Dei omnes sensus nostros in sensu quodam profundo illuminans cogitatus quidem nostros veluti comburit; cor vero in pace quadam amicitiae firmae ac constantis dulcedine perfundit, facitque ut spiritualia, et non jam quae secundum carnem sunt, mente agitemus, hoc vero iis frequentissime contingit, qui ad perfectionem proxime accedunt qui memoriam Dei perpetuam in corde habent.
Just as, when someone in wintertime, somewhere under the open sky, turns himself wholly towards the east in the morning, all the front parts of his body grow warm from the sun, but all the back parts are without warmth, because the sun is not above his head, so it happens to those who are at the beginning of the spiritual working: that is, their heart admits the warmth of divine grace in part. Hence the mind then begins to pour forth the fruit of spiritual thoughts, but the exposed parts of the heart savour of the flesh, because not yet are all the members of the heart illumined in their inmost sense by the light of holy grace. Some, not understanding this, have thought that two persons, as though adversaries to one another, were contending in the mind; thus, then, it happens that the soul thinks honourable and not honourable things at the same point of time, just as the man whose example we set out above is cold and warm in the same space of time. For since our mind fell into a twofold knowledge, it is bound to bring forth honourable and shameful thoughts at the same moment, even against its will, especially in those who come to subtlety of discernment. For whenever the mind hastens to consider something honourable, at once the recollection of evil comes in, because the memory of our mind, on account of the sin of the disobedient Adam, is divided into a certain twofold thinking. If therefore we begin to fulfil the commandments of God with zeal, thenceforth the grace of God, illumining all our senses in a certain deep sense, as it were burns up our thoughts, but floods the heart with the sweetness of a certain peace of firm and constant friendship, and makes us ponder in the mind spiritual things, and no longer those that are according to the flesh; and this happens most frequently to those who come nearest to perfection, who have the perpetual remembrance of God in their heart.
Editors' notes and page, col. 1202
Page
- running head: 1201 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1202 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹cum utramque decessionem›; B ‹mam adjuvat›; C ‹mittit. Unde fructus›; D ‹properat aliquid honesti›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: note 69 (Ephes. IV, 13), printed under this column, is called in col 1201 and set in n1201. Damaged type supplied: delap⟨s⟩a (s broken). Misprints (whole letters of another shape, not broken ones): "seusu" for sensu, "sanetae" for sanctae (seen at zoom 8). The column ends with the end of chapter LXXXVIII; no word crosses the break.
CAPUT LXXXIX.
CHAPTER LXXXIX.
Quando, et quomodo faciat Dei gratia, ut imago Dei, ad quam facti sumus, splendeat in nobis; quando item faciat, ac quomodo, ut sit nobis similitudo Dei, et de exemplo pictoris ad intelligendum utrumque, et quomodo sine illuminatione dilectionis Dei, quam Spiritus sanctus operatur, nemo possit habere similitudinem Dei, quamvis habeat caeteras omnes virtutes, quas naturaliter habere possit.
When and how the grace of God brings it about that the image of God, after which we were made, shines in us; likewise when and how it brings it about that we have the likeness of God; and on the example of a painter for understanding both; and how without the illumination of the love of God, which the Holy Spirit works, no one can have the likeness of God, even though he has all the other virtues which he can have by nature.
Duo nobis bona per baptismum regenerationis sancta gratia comparat, quorum alterum alteri infinito intervallo antecellit: sed illud quidem statim largitur, renovat enim nos in ipsa aqua, et cunctas animae lineas, id est quod ad imaginem Dei, omnibus rugis peccati nostri detractis, splendescere facit: hoc vero, id est quod est ad similitudinem Dei, non statim largitur, sed exspectat potius, ut illud, nobis adjutoribus, operetur. Cum igitur coeperit mens multo sensu suavitatem Dei gustare, scire nos oportet, tunc gratiam incipere veluti depingere in imagine similitudinem.
Holy grace procures for us through the baptism of regeneration two goods, of which the one surpasses the other by an infinite interval: the first it bestows at once, for it renews us in the very water, and makes all the lines of the soul, that is, what is after the image of God, shine forth, all the wrinkles of our sin being taken away; but the second, that is, what is after the likeness of God, it does not bestow at once, but rather waits so that it may work it with us as its helpers. When therefore the mind has begun to taste the sweetness of God with much sense, we must know that grace is then beginning, as it were, to paint the likeness upon the image.
Ut enim pictores primum quidem uno colore figuram hominis depingunt, postea vero colorem colori paulatim imponentes, speciem similis picturae usque ad capillum salvam retinent, sic gratia Dei primo quidem quod erat ad imaginem Dei factum, in eum statum, qui erat, cum factus est homo, per baptismum concinnat et aptat; cum autem videt nos toto animo pulchritudinem similitudinis concupiscere, stareque in sua officina nudos, ac nullius admiratione rei captos, tunc virtutem virtuti addens, instar florum, speciemque animae a claritate in claritatem transferens, formam similitudinis Dei ei adhibet, ita ut sensus quidem declaret, formari in nobis illud quod est ad similitudinem; perfectionem vero similitudinis ex illuminatione cognoscemus: mens namque proficiendo mensura quadam et rhythmica temperatione arcana, per sensum virtutes universas recipit. Spiritualem vero charitatem nemo comparare potest, nisi a Spiritu sancto plenissime illuminetur: nisi enim mens similitudinem Dei per divinum lumen perfecte recipiat, caeteras fere virtutes habere quidem potest, perfectae vero charitatis adhuc expers remanet. Siquidem cum similitudinem virtutis Dei accipit, quatenus homo fieri potest similis Deo, tunc fert similitudinem divinae charitatis. Ut enim in iis tabulis quae ad similitudinem aliarum pictae sunt, totum illud floridum colorum, qui sunt additi imagini, similitudinem picturae per omnia servat et retinet usque ad imitationem etiam subridentis, sic in iis quos divina gratia ad similitudinem Dei depingit, illuminatio charitatis addita declarat eum, qui ad imaginem Dei factus est, esse ex omni parte similitudine Dei decoratum; non enim potest alia virtus vacuitatem passionum ipsi animae acquirere, nisi sola charitas: Plenitudo namque legis dilectio est. Quamobrem renovatur quidem homo noster interior de die in diem in gustu charitatis; impletur vero, cum haec perficitur.
For as painters first draw the figure of a man in one colour, and afterwards, laying colour upon colour little by little, keep the appearance of the likeness of the picture intact down to the hair, so the grace of God first, through baptism, arranges and fits what was made after the image of God into the state in which it was when man was made; but when it sees us desiring the beauty of the likeness with our whole soul, and standing naked in its workshop, and captivated by admiration of nothing, then, adding virtue to virtue like flowers, and transferring the appearance of the soul from glory to glory, it applies to it the form of the likeness of God, so that the sense indeed declares that what is after the likeness is being formed in us; but we shall know the perfection of the likeness from the illumination: for the mind, by advancing with a certain measure and a hidden rhythmic tempering, receives all the virtues through sense. But no one can acquire spiritual charity unless he is most fully illumined by the Holy Spirit: for unless the mind perfectly receives the likeness of God through the divine light, it can indeed have almost all the other virtues, but it still remains without share in perfect charity. For when it receives the likeness of the virtue of God, so far as a man can become like God, then it bears the likeness of the divine charity. For as in those panels which are painted to the likeness of others, all that flowering of the colours added to the image preserves and retains the likeness of the picture in all things, even to the imitation of a smile, so in those whom divine grace paints to the likeness of God, the illumination of charity added to them declares that he who was made after the image of God is adorned on every side with the likeness of God; for no other virtue can acquire for the soul itself freedom from the passions, but charity alone: For love is the fulfilment of the law. Wherefore our inner man is indeed renewed from day to day in the taste of charity; but he is filled when this is perfected.
Editors' notes and page, col. 1203
Footnotes
(70) ‹legis dilectio est› · printed under col 1203
Rom. XIII, 10.
Rom. 13:10.
Page
- running head: 1203 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1204 (across the page; left half seen)
- marginal letters: A ‹CAPUT LXXXIX.›; B ‹cit: hoc vero›; C ‹rei captos›; D ‹similis Deo, tunc fert›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with the caption of chapter LXXXIX (col 1202 ends with the end of chapter LXXXVIII; no word crosses the break). The first X of "LXXXIX" is blurred. Notes 71 and 72 printed on the same line are called in col 1204. The column ends with the end of chapter LXXXIX.
CAPUT XC.
CHAPTER XC.
De sensu et experientia divinae dulcedinis in initio proficiendi spiritualiter, unde exsistat, et quomodo; et cur postea abscondatur nobis hujusmodi dulcedo, et unde exsistat difficultas diligendi Deum cum gustu et in sensu cordis; et quomodo contendendum sit ad ejusmodi gustum charitatis Dei; et quibus contingat perfectio charitatis in hac vita, et perfectus gustus ejus.
On the sense and experience of the divine sweetness at the beginning of spiritual progress, whence it arises and how; and why such sweetness is afterwards hidden from us, and whence arises the difficulty of loving God with taste and in the sense of the heart; and how we must strive towards such a taste of the charity of God; and to whom the perfection of charity comes in this life, and the perfect taste of it.
Igitur Spiritus sanctus initio progressus spiritualis, si virtutem Dei fervide amamus, annuit animae, ut dulcedinem divinam in omni sensu et plenitudine sentiat, quo possit mens sanctorum laborum praemium perfectum notitia exacta cognoscere: hujus vero vivifici muneris magnificentiam et amplitudinem diu deinceps nobis celat, ut quamvis caeteras omnes virtutes operemur, nihil prorsus nos esse existimemus, quia nondum sanctam charitatem tanquam habitu confirmatam habeamus. Sic igitur spiritus odii daemon plus tunc molestiae animis pugilum spiritualium exhibet, ita ut eos qui inter se amant, ad odium traducat; et usque ad osculum mortiferum odii actum deferat, ex quo fit, ut plus anima doleat, quod cum charitatem spiritualem alioqui in memoria ferat, non tamen possit in sensu eam adipisci propter vacationem perfectissimorum laborum.
The Holy Spirit, then, at the beginning of spiritual progress, if we love the virtue of God fervently, grants to the soul that it should feel the divine sweetness in all sense and fullness, so that the mind may know with exact knowledge the perfect reward of holy labours; but He hides from us for a long time thereafter the magnificence and amplitude of this life-giving gift, so that, although we perform all the other virtues, we may think ourselves to be nothing at all, because we do not yet have holy charity confirmed as a habit. Thus, then, the demon, the spirit of hatred, causes more trouble at that time to the souls of the spiritual athletes, so that he leads to hatred those who love one another, and carries the act of hatred even to the deadly kiss; whence it comes about that the soul grieves the more, because, although it otherwise bears spiritual charity in memory, it cannot yet attain it in sense, on account of the lack of the most perfect labours.
Oportet igitur eam omni vi adhibita eatenus exercere, ut ad ejusdem gustum in toto sensu ac plenitudine perveniamus; ejus enim perfectionem nemo mortalium assequi potest praeter sanctos eos qui usque ad martyrium et perfectam confessionem provecti sunt. Qui enim hoc adeptus est, totus jam mutatur, ita ut neque cibum facile appetat. Quid enim eorum quae in mundo sunt expetat, qui divina charitate nutritur et alitur? Idcirco sapientissimus Paulus, amplum illud scientiae receptaculum, praedicans nobis e sua plenitudine justorum futuras delicias, sic ait: Non est regnum Dei esca et potus, sed justitia et pax, et gaudium in Spiritu sancto, qui sunt perfectae charitatis fructus. Quare possunt quidem gustare eam hic frequenter, qui ad perfectionem proficiunt ac progrediuntur; perfecte vero gustare non possunt, nisi prius quod mortale est absorbeatur a vita.
We must therefore exercise it, with all our strength applied, so far that we may come to the taste of it in all sense and fullness; for no mortal can attain its perfection except those saints who have been brought on even to martyrdom and perfect confession. For he who has attained this is now wholly changed, so that he does not readily desire even food. For what of the things that are in the world would he seek who is nourished and fed by divine charity? Therefore the most wise Paul, that ample receptacle of knowledge, proclaiming to us out of his own fullness the future delights of the just, says thus: The kingdom of God is not food and drink, but justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; and these are the fruits of perfect charity. Wherefore those who advance and progress towards perfection can indeed taste it here often; but they cannot taste it perfectly unless what is mortal is first swallowed up by life.
CAPUT XCI.
CHAPTER XCI.
De quodam, qui tenebatur ardenti desiderio cognoscendi perspicue charitatem Dei, quomodo eam cognoverit Dei munere; et de iis, qui ejusmodi charitatem sensu et gustu cordis experti sunt, quales sint eorum virtutes; et quomodo isti fidem charitate superent; et quomodo hoc Paulus significaverit cum dixit: Nunc autem manent fides, spes, charitas; tria haec, horum major est charitas.
On a certain man who was held by a burning desire to know the charity of God clearly, how he came to know it by the gift of God; and on those who have experienced such charity by the sense and taste of the heart, what their virtues are; and how these surpass faith by charity; and how Paul signified this when he said: But now there remain faith, hope, charity, these three; the greatest of these is charity.
Narravit mihi quidam ex iis qui voluntato quadam insatiabili Dominum diligunt, quemadmodum cum teneretur desiderio charitatem Dei plane et perspicue cognoscendi, hoc ille summe bonus in multo sensu et plenitudine largitus esset, seque eatenus ejusmodi operationem sensisse aiebat, ut
One of those who love the Lord with a kind of insatiable will told me how, when he was held by the desire of knowing the charity of God plainly and clearly, He Who is supremely good granted this in much sense and fullness; and he said that he had felt such a working to such a degree that […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1204
Footnotes
(71) ‹in Spiritu sancto› · printed under col 1203
Rom. XIV, 17.
Rom. 14:17.
(72) ‹horum major est charitas› · printed under cols 1203–1204 (the line runs across the gutter)
I Cor. XIII, 13.
1 Cor. 13:13.
Page
- running head: 1203 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1204 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹CAPUT XC.›; B ‹vis caeteras omnes›; C ‹et perfectam confessionem›; D ‹CAPUT XCI.›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with the caption of chapter XC (col 1203 ends with the end of chapter LXXXIX). Note 72 is called in the caption of chapter XCI, after the quoted verse. Misprint: "voluntato" for voluntate (seen at zoom 8; the letter is a closed o, not a broken e). No word crosses the 1204/1205 break.
anima cum inexplicabili tunc laetitia et charitate desideraret ex corpore excedere, et ad Dominum proficisci, ac genus vitae hujus caducae veluti ignorare. Qui igitur hanc charitatem expertus est, tametsi infinitis contumeliis et incommodis ab aliquo afficiatur (accidit enim interdum, ut qui exercendus sit laboribus, hujusmodi malis implicetur), tamen non irascitur ei; sed potius cum eo, qui contumelias et damna intulit, manet copulatus; in eos vero solum incitatur et incenditur, qui in pauperes invadunt, aut in Deum, sicut ait Scriptura, iniquitatem loquuntur, aut alio quopiam modo non bene vivunt. Qui enim plus jam Deum, quam se diligit, imo non amplius se diligit, sed Deum solum, non jam honorem suum sectatur, sed magis justitiam ejus honorari cupit, a quo ipse honore immortali honoratus est: idque non parva quadam voluntate expetit; quin potius habet deinceps hujusmodi affectum animi tanquam habitu susceptum propter multam experientiam charitatis Dei. Sciendum praeterea est, eum, qui in hujusmodi charitatem a Deo actus est, dum illa operatio charitatis durat, supra fidem consistere, tanquam tenentem jam in sensu cordis per multam charitatem eum, quem fide honorabat. Quod quidem aperte nobis apostolus Paulus significat, cum ait, nunc autem manent fides, spes, charitas; major autem horum est charitas. Ut enim dixi, qui Deum copiosa charitate amplectitur, multo major est tunc sua fides, totus in desiderio Dei positus.
[…] his soul, with an inexpressible joy and charity at that time, desired to go out from the body and set out to the Lord, and as it were to know nothing of the manner of this transient life. He, then, who has experienced this charity, even if he is afflicted by someone with countless insults and injuries (for it sometimes happens that one who is to be exercised by labours is entangled in evils of this kind), is yet not angry with him; but rather he remains joined to the one who inflicted the insults and losses; but he is roused and inflamed only against those who attack the poor, or, as Scripture says, speak iniquity against God, or in some other way do not live well. For he who now loves God more than himself, nay, no longer loves himself but God alone, no longer pursues his own honour, but rather desires that the justice of Him by Whom he himself has been honoured with an immortal honour should be honoured; and this he seeks with no small will; rather he thenceforth has such a disposition of mind as though received as a habit, on account of much experience of the charity of God. It must be known moreover that he who has been brought by God into such charity stands, while that working of charity lasts, above faith, as one who now holds in the sense of the heart, through much charity, Him Whom he used to honour by faith. This the apostle Paul clearly signifies to us when he says: But now there remain faith, hope, charity; but the greatest of these is charity. For, as I have said, he who embraces God with abundant charity, wholly set upon the desire of God, then his faith is much greater [so printed; perhaps: he is then much greater than his own faith].
CAPUT XCII.
CHAPTER XCII.
De proprietate mediocris operationis ex cognitione sancta, quomodo afferat nobis magnum dolorem, si quando aliquem offenderimus; et quid faciendum sit tunc, si offensus reconciliari nobis noluerit, aut si procul absens fuerit.
On the property of the moderate working that comes from holy knowledge: how it brings us great sorrow if ever we have offended someone; and what is to be done then, if the one offended will not be reconciled to us, or if he is far away.
Mediocritas operationis, quam cognitio sancta operatur, non parum dolere nos facit, cum in aliquem irritati, inimicum nobis contumeliis nostris fecimus. Ex quo fit, ut nunquam remittat conscientiae nostrae morsus, donec in pristinam gratiam contumelia offensum multa excusatione reconciliaverimus. Sed ille est acerbissimus conscientiae morsus, cum aliquis ex vitae hujus hominibus immerito nobis irascitur, valde enim nos sollicito et exercito animo esse facit, quod cuiquam ex numero eorum qui de hoc saeculo loquuntur, offensionem attulerimus. Unde vacat tunc a contemplatione mens, quia sermo scientiae, cum totus sit charitatis, non sinit agitationem mentis ad concipiendas contemplationes diffundi, ac dilatari, nisi prius eum nobis reconciliemus, qui temere nobis iratus est. Quod si noluerit ille, aut rursus procul a nostris locis ubi versamur abest, de reliquo necessitas urget, ut formam vultus ejus in quadam animae non contracta fusione ad nostrum affectum adjungentes, sic in profundo cordis legem per charitatem impleamus; oportet enim (inquit)
The moderate measure of working which holy knowledge works makes us grieve not a little when, being irritated against someone, we have made him our enemy by our insults. Whence it comes about that the sting of our conscience never relaxes until, with much apology, we have reconciled to his former favour the one offended by the insult. But that is the bitterest sting of conscience, when someone of the men of this life is undeservedly angry with us; for it makes us very anxious and troubled in mind that we have given offence to anyone of the number of those who speak of this world. Hence the mind is then idle from contemplation, because the word of knowledge, since it is wholly of charity, does not allow the movement of the mind to be spread out and enlarged for conceiving contemplations unless we first reconcile to ourselves him who has rashly been angry with us. But if he will not, or again is absent far from the places where we live, necessity urges for the rest that, joining the form of his countenance to our affection in a certain unconstricted outpouring of the soul, we may thus fulfil the law through charity in the depth of the heart; for it is necessary (he says) […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1205
Footnotes
(73) ‹iniquitatem loquuntur› · printed under col 1205
Psal. LXXIV, 6.
Ps. 74:6.
Page
- running head: 1205 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1206 (across the page; left half seen)
- marginal letters: A ‹anima cum inexplicabili›; B ‹sed magis justitiam›; C ‹CAPUT XCII.›; D ‹et exercito animo›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with "anima", a whole word continuing the sentence of col 1204 (which ends "ut", no hyphen). No note call is printed at the quotation of 1 Cor. 13:13 in chapter XCI. Notes 74 onward printed under this column are called in col 1206 (see n1206). "multo major est tunc sua fides" is set as printed; the sense (and the chapter caption, "fidem charitate superent") suggests "sua fide", translated with a "so printed" bracket. No word crosses the 1205/1206 break ("(inquit)" ends the column).
facies eorum, qui intempestive irascuntur, sedata cogitatione, in animo suo cernere eos qui cognitionem Dei habere volunt; quod quidem cum actum erit, non solum in theologia, id est, in divinarum rerum tractatione, sine errore mens versabitur, sed ad charitatem Dei cum magna fiducia ascendet, veluti ex secundo gradu ad primum sine impedimento festinans.
[…] that those who wish to have the knowledge of God should behold in their own mind, with calmed thought, the faces of those who are untimely angry; and when this has been done, not only will the mind move without error in theology, that is, in the treatment of divine things, but it will ascend to the charity of God with great confidence, hastening without hindrance as if from the second step to the first.
CAPUT XCIII.
CHAPTER XCIII.
Quare via virtutis incipientibus appareat aspera, et quare medium ejus transeuntibus fiat facilis: et quid faciendum sit incipientibus ad superandum asperitatem, gratia Dei adjuvante.
Why the way of virtue appears rough to beginners, and why its middle becomes easy to those passing through it; and what beginners must do to overcome the roughness, with the grace of God helping.
Via virtutis iis quidem qui veritatem amare incipiunt, aspera et molesta apparet, non quia talis sit, sed quia natura humana statim ab ipso ortu in laxitate voluptatum versatur; iis vero qui medium ejus transire possunt, tota lenis et expedita ostenditur: mali enim mores, honestis moribus usu virtutis facti obedientes, intereunt una cum memoria voluptatum a ratione abhorrentium. Ex quo fit, ut deinceps anima omnes virtutum vias libenter ambulet. Idcirco Dominus cum nos in viam salutis introducit, ait: Angusta et arcta est via, quae ducit ad regnum, et pauci sunt qui eam ingrediuntur. Eis vero, qui multo studio sancta ejus mandata capessere volunt, sic ait: Jugum enim meum suave est, et onus meum leve. Oportet igitur principio certationis violenta quadam voluntate sancta Dei mandata perficere, ut cum Dominus propositum nostrum, et laborem, ac voluntatem viderit voluntati suae gloriosae libentissime deservire, gratiam suam mittat (a Domino enim paratur voluntas), ut magna cum laetitia nullum tempus intermittentes operemur bonum; tunc revera sentiemus Deum esse qui operatur in nobis velle, et perficere pro bona voluntate.
The way of virtue appears rough and troublesome to those who are beginning to love the truth, not because it is such, but because human nature from its very birth lives in the looseness of pleasures; but to those who are able to pass through its middle it shows itself wholly gentle and unencumbered: for bad habits, made obedient to good habits by the practice of virtue, perish together with the memory of the pleasures that are repugnant to reason. Whence it comes about that the soul thereafter walks willingly in all the ways of the virtues. Therefore the Lord, when He leads us into the way of salvation, says: Narrow and strait is the way that leads to the kingdom, and few are they who enter upon it. But to those who wish with much zeal to take up His holy commandments He speaks thus: For My yoke is sweet, and My burden light. We must therefore, at the beginning of the contest, fulfil the holy commandments of God with a certain violent will, so that when the Lord sees our purpose and labour, and our will most gladly serving His glorious will, He may send His grace (for the will is prepared by the Lord), so that with great joy, leaving off at no time, we may work what is good; then we shall truly feel that it is God Who works in us to will and to accomplish for the good will.
CAPUT CXIV.
CHAPTER XCIV.
Quomodo opus sit per labores et infirmitates probari, et veluti molliri cor ad imprimendum in eo sigillum similitudinis Dei ex virtutibus ejus; et quae essent probationes sanctorum per infirmitates, quas Paulus vocat, tempore martyrum; et quae pro illis successerint tempore pacis Ecclesiarum; et quomodo operandum sit per tolerantiam in tribulationibus testimonium conscientiae nostrae.
How it is needful for the heart to be proved through labours and infirmities and, as it were, softened, so that the seal of the likeness of God may be imprinted on it from His virtues; and what the provings of the saints through infirmities, as Paul calls them, were in the time of the martyrs; and what has succeeded to them in the time of the peace of the Churches; and how we must work out, through endurance in tribulations, the testimony of our conscience.
Sicut in cera, nisi multum tepefacta et mollita sit, non potest sigillum imprimi, sic nec in homine sigillum virtutis Dei imprimi potest, nisi ex laboribus et infirmitatibus probetur. Idcirco Dominus beato Paulo dixit: Sufficit tibi gratia mea, virtus enim in infirmitate perficitur. Apostolus vero ita gloriatur inquiens: Libentissime igitur magis gloriavor in infirmitatibus meis, ut habitet in me virtus Christi; imo et in Proverbiis scriptum est: Quem diligit Dominus corripit; castigat autem omnem filium, quem recipit. Atqui infirmitates vocat Apostolus impugnationes inimicorum verbi Dei, quae tunc et sibi, et sanctis omnibus
Just as a seal cannot be impressed on wax unless it has been much warmed and softened, so neither can the seal of the virtue of God be impressed on a man unless he is proved by labours and infirmities. Therefore the Lord said to blessed Paul: My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in infirmity. And the Apostle glories thus, saying: Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me; nay, in Proverbs too it is written: Whom the Lord loves He rebukes; and He chastises every son whom He receives. Now the Apostle calls infirmities the attacks of the enemies of the word of God, which at that time befell both himself and all the saints […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1206
Footnotes
(74) ‹qui eam ingrediuntur› · printed under col 1205
Matth. VII, 14.
Matt. 7:14.
(75) ‹onus meum leve› · printed under col 1205
Matth. XI, 30.
Matt. 11:30.
(76) ‹paratur voluntas› · printed under col 1206
Prov. VIII, 14.
Prov. 8:14 [the words quoted stand at 8:35 in the Greek].
(77) ‹pro bona voluntate› · printed under col 1206
Philipp. II, 13.
Phil. 2:13.
(78) ‹in infirmitate perficitur› · printed under col 1205 (second line of the notes)
II Cor. XII, 9.
2 Cor. 12:9.
(79) ‹virtus Christi› · printed under col 1205 (second line of the notes)
ibid.
ibid.
(80) ‹quem recipit› · printed under col 1205 (second line of the notes)
Prov. III, 12.
Prov. 3:12.
Page
- running head: 1205 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1206 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹facies eorum›; B ‹sit, sed quia natura›; C ‹Dominus propositum nostrum›; D ‹Sicut in cera›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with "facies", a whole word (col 1205 ends "(inquit)"). The caption of chapter XCIV is printed "CAPUT CXIV." (misprint; the English gives XCIV). Note 76 is printed "Prov. VIII, 14" (read at zoom 6; the words "a Domino paratur voluntas" are Prov. 8:35 in the Septuagint): an editor's wrong verse correctly printed, or a mis-set figure; set as printed. Misprint: "gloriavor" for gloriabor (italic, read at zoom 4). The column's last word, "omnibus", is hyphenated into col 1207 and set whole here.
crebro accidebant, ne, sicut idem Apostolus ait, excellentia revelationum extollerentur, sed potius per submissionem in forma perfectionis perseverarent, divinum munus per frequentes contemptus sancte custodientes; nos vero nunc pravas cogitationes, et corporum aegritudines infirmitates appellamus. Illis enim temporibus, quia corpora sanctorum qui cum peccato pugnabant, mortiferis verberibus, et aliis variis tormentis tradebantur, idcirco passionibus, quae ex peccato profectae in naturam humanam ingressae sunt, multo erant superiora; nunc vero quia Ecclesiae multam per Dominum pacem et tranquillitatem habent, opus est eorum qui certant, corpus quidem frequentium morborum, animas vero malarum cogitationum periclitatione probari: praesertim in quibus cognitio in omni sensu et plenitudine operatur. Ut extra omnem inanem gloriam et extra illud in sublime positi, sigillum, ut dixit, divinae pulchritudinis in cordibus suis per multam submissionem capere possint; sicut ait sanctus ille Propheta: Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui, Domine. Oportet igitur cum gratiarum actione voluntatem Domini sustinere; tunc enim ista aegritudinum assiduitas, et cum daemoniacis cogitationibus pugna, vice secundi martyrii habebitur. Qui enim illis temporibus per impios illos magistratus et potestates sanctis martyribus dicebat: Negate Christum, concupiscite vitae hujus glorias et honores, nunc etiam praesto est ad dicendum semper eadem per seipsum servis Dei. Qui tunc cruciabat corpora justorum et magistros honoris summis contumeliis per ministros voluntatis et consilii diabolici afficiebat, idem nunc confessoribus pietatis, varias passiones cum multis contumeliis et despicationibus infert, ac tunc quidem potissimum, cum afflictis pauperibus totis illis viribus propter gloriam Domini opem ferunt. Idcirco oportet, ut testimonium conscientiae nostrae in conspectu Dei tute et toleranter operemur: Exspectans, inquit, exspectavi Dominum, et intendit mihi.
[…] often, lest, as the same Apostle says, they should be exalted by the excellence of the revelations, but so that they might rather persevere through submission in the form of perfection, guarding the divine gift in holiness through frequent contempts; but we now call evil thoughts and the sicknesses of bodies infirmities. For in those times, because the bodies of the saints who fought against sin were handed over to deadly scourgings and various other torments, they were for that reason far above the passions which, proceeding from sin, entered into human nature; but now, because the Churches have much peace and tranquillity through the Lord, it is needful that those who strive be proved, the body by the peril of frequent diseases, and the soul by that of evil thoughts: especially those in whom knowledge works in all sense and fullness. So that, set beyond all vain glory and beyond it on high, they may be able, as he said, to receive the seal of the divine beauty in their hearts through much submission; as that holy Prophet says: The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, is sealed upon us. We must therefore bear the will of the Lord with thanksgiving; for then this constancy of sicknesses and the fight with demonic thoughts will be reckoned in place of a second martyrdom. For he who in those times, through those impious magistrates and powers, said to the holy martyrs: Deny Christ, desire the glories and honours of this life, is now also at hand, by himself, to say the same things always to the servants of God. He who then tortured the bodies of the just and afflicted the teachers of honour with the greatest insults through the ministers of the devilish will and counsel, the same now inflicts on the confessors of piety various sufferings with many insults and contempts, and then above all when, with all their strength, they bring help to the afflicted poor for the glory of the Lord. Therefore we must work out the testimony of our conscience in the sight of God safely and patiently: Waiting, he says, I waited for the Lord, and He attended to me.
CAPUT XCV.
CHAPTER XCV.
De duplici humilitate, una mediocrium, altera perfectorum; et quomodo illa mediocrium comparetur, et quomodo altera; et de qualitate et de conditione utriusque; et quomodo a priore ad secundam perveniendum sit.
On twofold humility, the one of those in the middle way, the other of the perfect; and how that of those in the middle way is acquired, and how the other; and on the quality and condition of each; and how one is to come from the former to the second.
Res est difficilis ad comparandum humilitas: quo enim major est, eo est usus ejus laboriosior. Duobus vero modis ab iis comparatur, qui sunt cognitionis sanctae participes; cum enim in studio pietatis certat, in medio spiritualis experientiae est, tunc aut propter imbecillitatem corporis, aut propter eos, qui virtutis studiosis summe malevoli sunt, aut propter pravas cogitationes, modestius ac submissius quodammodo de se sentit. Cum vero ⟨m⟩ens a sancta gratia in multo sensu et plenitudine
Humility is a thing difficult to acquire: for the greater it is, the more laborious is its practice. It is acquired in two ways by those who are partakers of holy knowledge; for when [one] strives in the pursuit of piety and is in the middle of spiritual experience, then, either because of the weakness of the body, or because of those who are extremely ill-disposed towards those zealous for virtue, or because of evil thoughts, he thinks of himself in a way more modestly and submissively. But when the mind, by holy grace, in much sense and fullness […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1207
Footnotes
(81) ‹idem Apostolus ait› · printed under col 1207
II Cor. XII, 7.
2 Cor. 12:7.
(82) ‹vultus tui, Domine› · printed under col 1207
Psal. IV, 7.
Ps. 4:7.
(83) ‹et intendit mihi› · printed under col 1207
Psal. XXXIX, 2.
Ps. 39:2.
Page
- running head: 1207 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1208 (across the page; left half seen)
- marginal letters: A ‹bus crebro accidebant›; B ‹gitationum periclitatione›; C ‹honores, nunc etiam›; D ‹fectorum; et quomodo›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with "bus", the end of "omnibus", hyphenated from col 1206 and set whole there. In the foot the figure of note 81 shows only as "1" (the 8 not printed or lost); numbered 81 by sequence and by the call "81" in the text. Damaged type: ⟨m⟩ens (first letter of the last line lost). No word crosses the 1207/1208 break ("plenitudine" ends the column).
illustratur, tunc anima veluti naturalem habet humilitatem: facta enim plenior et quasi pinguior per divinam gratiam, non potest amplius tumore cupiditatis gloriae efferri, quamvis perpetuo mandata Dei perficiat: quin potius inferiorem se omnibus ducit propter submissionis suae et divinae modestiae communionem: est autem illa quidem humilitas ut plurimum in dolore et moestitia: haec vero in laetitia cum pudore quodam prudentissimo. Quocirca illa quidem iis qui in medio certamine sunt advenit; haec vero iis mittitur, qui perfectioni appropinquant: ob hanc causam illi quidem saepenumero secundae res hujus vitae exprobrant; altera vero tametsi quis omnia regna mundi ei afferat, neque stupet, neque admiratur, neque prorsus vehementia jacula peccati sentit: tota namque spiritualis facta, honores et glorias ad corpus pertinentes nescit. Opus igitur omnino est, ut qui studium certandi suscipit, cum per illam transierit, ad hanc veniat; nisi enim gratia doloribus ad erudiendum illatis, non cogendo, sed periclitatione probando nostram liberam voluntatem per illam priorem praemoliat, nunquam nobiscum amplitudinem hujus communicabit.
[…] is illumined, then the soul has as it were a natural humility: for, made fuller and as it were richer through divine grace, it can no longer be carried away by the swelling of the desire for glory, even though it perpetually fulfils the commandments of God; rather it counts itself lower than all, on account of its communion in submission and divine modesty. The former humility is for the most part in sorrow and sadness, but this one in joy, with a certain most prudent shame. Wherefore the former comes to those who are in the middle of the contest, but this one is sent to those who are drawing near to perfection: for this reason the prosperity of this life often reproaches the former; but the other, even if someone were to bring it all the kingdoms of the world, is neither astonished nor admiring, nor does it feel the vehement darts of sin at all: for, having become wholly spiritual, it does not know the honours and glories that belong to the body. It is therefore altogether needful that he who takes up the zeal of striving should, when he has passed through the former, come to this one; for unless grace, by sorrows brought on for instruction, not by compelling but by proving our free will through trial, first softens it by means of that former humility, it will never share with us the amplitude of this one.
CAPUT XCVI.
CHAPTER XCVI.
Quae observent daemones in religiosis ad oppugnandum eos, arripientes inde occasionem; et quomodo sint illa religiosis cavenda, et in primis cupiditas gloriae; et quae mala ex loquacitate sequantur, et quid contra hoc vitium faciendum.
What the demons watch for in religious men in order to attack them, seizing an occasion from it; and how these things are to be avoided by religious men, and first of all the desire for glory; and what evils follow from talkativeness, and what is to be done against this vice.
Qui voluptates vitae hujus amant, a cogitationibus ad peccata delabuntur; dum enim judicio inconsiderato feruntur, fere omnia, quae perturbata mente agitant, tum in sermones lege solutos, tum in malefacta conferre cupiunt. Qui vero aggrediuntur monasticam vitam capessere, hi a peccatis ad pravas cogitationes, aut ad mala quaedam verba et noxia deveniunt. Hos enim si aut libenter convicium facere, aut de otiosis rebus et intempestivis colloqui, aut sine decentia ridere, aut immoderate irasci, aut vanam et inanem gloriam concupiscere daemones viderint, tunc una mente et proposito se adversus eos armant: ex cupiditate enim gloriae in primis occasionem malitiae suae arripientes, et per illam, tanquam per fenestram quamdam obscuram ingressi, animas diripiunt. Oportet igitur qui volunt cum multis virtutibus vitam degere, eos neque gloriam appetere, neque cum multis congredi, neque crebro prodire, nec ullis conviciari, quamvis conviciis digni sint, neque multum loqui, quamvis possint omnia pulchre dicere: multus namque sermo mentem immoderate distrahens, non solum otiosam in spirituali exercitatione efficit, sed etiam daemoni acediae eam prodit; qui eamdem rursus immoderate relaxans ac dissolvens, daemonibus iracundiae et doloris praesidibus tradit. Quare opus est habere animum occupatum in observatione sanctorum mandatorum, et in profunda memoria Jesu
Those who love the pleasures of this life slip from thoughts into sins; for while they are carried along by an inconsiderate judgement, almost everything that they turn over in a disturbed mind they desire to bring out, now in speech loosed from all law, now in evil deeds. But those who set about taking up the monastic life come down from sins to evil thoughts, or to certain evil and harmful words. For if the demons see them either gladly reviling, or talking of idle and untimely things, or laughing without decency, or being immoderately angry, or desiring vain and empty glory, then they arm themselves against them with one mind and purpose: for, seizing the occasion for their malice first of all from the desire for glory, and entering through it as through a kind of dark window, they plunder souls. Those therefore who wish to spend their life with many virtues must neither seek glory, nor associate with many, nor go out often, nor revile anyone, even though they deserve reviling, nor speak much, even though they are able to say everything beautifully: for much speech, distracting the mind immoderately, not only makes it idle in spiritual exercise, but also betrays it to the demon of acedia; and he, again relaxing and dissolving it immoderately, hands it over to the demons that preside over anger and sorrow. Wherefore it is needful to keep the mind occupied in the observance of the holy commandments, and in the deep remembrance of Jesus […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1208
Page
- running head: 1207 B. MARCI DIADOCHI 1208 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹illustratur, tunc anima›; B ‹hementia jacula peccati›; C ‹Qui voluptates vitae›; D ‹ingressi, animas diripiunt›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with "illustratur", a whole word (col 1207 ends "plenitudine"). The notes printed at the foot of the page (81–83) are called in col 1207. The column ends "Jesu" with no hyphen.
Domini gloriae. Qui enim, inquit, custodit mandatum, non cognoscet verbum malum, id est, ad pravas cogitationes aut ad pravos sermones non delabetur.
[…] the Lord of glory. For he who keeps the commandment, he says, will not know an evil word; that is, he will not slip into evil thoughts or into evil speech.
CAPUT XCVII.
CHAPTER XCVII.
Quid accidat ei qui incipit purgare cor, et quomodo recordatione Domini Jesu sit cor inflammandum ac purgandum; et quomodo necessarium sit, et quando assequi possimus, ut semper et sine intermissione oremus.
What happens to him who begins to purify his heart, and how the heart is to be inflamed and purified by the remembrance of the Lord Jesus; and how it is necessary, and when we can attain it, that we pray always and without ceasing.
Cum cor ferventi quodam dolore jactus telorum, qui a daemonibus fiunt, excipit; ita ut videatur sibi, qui oppugnatur, ferre ipsa jacula cum labore, odit anima passiones, ut quae purgari incipiat: nisi enim de peccandi impudentia vehementer doleat, nunquam poterit bonitate virtutis affatim laetari. Qui igitur vult cor suum purgare, semper illud recordatione Domini Jesu inflammet, in eo solum occupatus, et hoc tantum sine intermissione agens; non enim oportet quandoque quidem orare, quandoque vero non, eos qui volunt tabem suam abjicere, sed potius dare semper operam orationi in custodia mentis, tametsi extra oratorium sint. Ut enim cum quis vult aurum purgare, si paulisper ignem in fornace cessare sinat, facit, ut rursus materia auri, quae purgatur, durescat: sic qui aliquando memor Dei est, aliquando non est, quod is videtur per orationem comparare, hoc perdit otio. Est autem ejus qui studio virtutis tenetur proprium, id quod est in corde terrenum, recordatione Dei consumere; ut anima, consumpto ad hunc modum paulatim vitio ab igne hujus bonae recordationis, ad splendorem sibi naturalem cum majore gloria perfecte redeat.
When the heart receives with a certain fervent pain the casting of the darts that are thrown by the demons, so that he who is attacked seems to himself to bear the darts themselves with labour, the soul hates the passions, as one that is beginning to be purified: for unless it grieves vehemently over the shamelessness of sinning, it will never be able to rejoice abundantly in the goodness of virtue. Let him, then, who wishes to purify his heart always inflame it with the remembrance of the Lord Jesus, occupied in this alone and doing this only, without ceasing; for those who wish to cast off their corruption ought not to pray at some times and at others not, but rather always to give their attention to prayer in the guarding of the mind, even when they are outside the oratory. For as, when someone wishes to purify gold, if he lets the fire in the furnace cease for a little while, he causes the material of the gold that is being purified to harden again, so he who is at some times mindful of God and at others not loses through idleness what he seems to acquire through prayer. It is the mark of one who is held by the zeal of virtue to consume by the remembrance of God what is earthly in the heart, so that the soul, the vice being consumed in this way little by little by the fire of this good remembrance, may return perfectly, with greater glory, to the splendour natural to it.
CAPUT XCVIII.
CHAPTER XCVIII.
Quid sit, vacuum esse passionibus in hac vita, et de armatura spirituali ad perrumpendum acies daemonum.
What it is to be free of the passions in this life; and on the spiritual armour for breaking through the battle lines of the demons.
Vacuum esse passionibus, non est non impugnari a daemonibus, alioqui oportet nos, sicut Apostolus ait, exisse ex hoc mundo, sed illud potius, ab illis impugnatum, non expugnari: in bellatores enim ferro armatos, jaciunt hostes sagittas, audiuntque ipsi jactus telorum, imo omnia fere tela in se emissa cernunt, non tamen feriuntur propter armorum, quibus induti sunt, duritiam. Verum illi quidem ferro protecti et custoditi expugnari nequeunt in pugna; nos vero armatura sancti luminis, et galea salutis per omnia opera bona armati, acies daemonum tenebris circumfusas perrumpemus. Non enim puritatem affert solum, pravas actiones non amplius suscipere, sed studio etiam recte factorum maleficia fortiter repudiare.
To be free of the passions is not to be free of attack by the demons (otherwise we should have, as the Apostle says, to go out of this world), but rather, when attacked by them, not to be overcome: for enemies shoot arrows at warriors armed with iron, and these hear the strokes of the darts, nay they see almost all the darts sent against them, yet they are not struck, because of the hardness of the armour with which they are clothed. But whereas they, protected and guarded by iron, cannot be overcome in battle, we, armed with the armour of the holy light and the helmet of salvation through all good works, shall break through the battle lines of the demons that are wrapped in darkness. For it is not only no longer to take up evil actions that brings purity, but also bravely to repudiate evil deeds through zeal for right actions.
CAPUT XCIX.
CHAPTER XCIX.
De duobus daemonibus post universas fere passiones superatas relictis ad luctandum, altero cum anima, altero cum corpore, et quomodo superandus sit, qui cum anima luctatur per zelum; et quomodo superandus, qui cum corpore pugnat per libidinem
On the two demons that are left to wrestle after almost all the passions have been overcome, the one with the soul, the other with the body; and how the one who wrestles with the soul through zeal is to be overcome; and how the one who fights with the body through lust is to be overcome […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1209
Footnotes
(84) ‹exisse ex hoc mundo› · printed under col 1209
I Cor. V, 10.
1 Cor. 5:10.
Page
- running head: 1209 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1210 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹Domini gloriae›; B ‹tari. Qui igitur›; C ‹consumere; ut anima›; D ‹armorum, quibus induti›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with "Domini", a whole word (col 1208 ends "Jesu"). No note call is printed at the quotation "Qui custodit mandatum…" in chapter XCVI. Note 85 printed under this column is called in col 1210 (see n1210). The caption of chapter XCIX runs across the column break; its last word here, "libidinem", is hyphenated into col 1210 and set whole here; the rest of the caption stands under the rail of col 1210.
; et causa, cur homo post magnos progressus in virtutibus factos, permittatur tentari per libidinem ab hujusmodi daemone.
[…] and the reason why a man, after great progress made in the virtues, is allowed to be tempted through lust by such a demon.
Posteaquam universas fere passiones homo Dei vicerit, duo remanent daemones luctantes cum eo: quorum unus quidem turbas facit animae, dum ita eam ab amore Dei ad importunum zelum traducit, ut nullum alium absque se Deo placere velit; alter vero corpori, dum illud ad desiderium rei venereae incendii cujusdam operatione movet. Hoc autem corpori accidit, primum quidem quia haec voluptas propria est naturae, utpote ad generandum insita; quamobrem facile corpus superatur; deinde, quia cedit Deus. Cum enim aliquem in numero luctantium multitudine virtutum excellentem esse videt, permittit eum quandoque ab hujusmodi daemone foedari, ut existimet se omnibus viventibus viliorem. Profecto vel molestia passionis sequitur recte facta, vel recte facta antecedit, ut vel per anticipationem, vel per subsecutionem passionis anima sibi inutilis quodammodo videatur, quamlibet magnae alioqui sint virtutes ejus, et recte facta. Sed cum illo quidem multa humilitate et charitate pugnamus; cum hoc vero pugnamus continentia, vacatione irae, et profunda mortis cogitatione, ut hinc sine ulla intermissione operationem Spiritus sancti sentientes, superiores passionibus in Domino evadamus.
After the man of God has conquered almost all the passions, two demons remain wrestling with him: one of them stirs up disturbances in the soul, while it leads it away from the love of God to an importunate zeal, so that it would have no one but itself please God; the other stirs up the body, while it moves it to the desire of venereal things by the working of a kind of burning. This happens to the body, first because this pleasure is proper to nature, as being implanted for generation, and for that reason the body is easily overcome; and secondly because God allows it. For when He sees someone in the number of those who wrestle excelling in a multitude of virtues, He sometimes permits him to be defiled by such a demon, so that he may think himself viler than all the living. Indeed, the trouble of the passion either follows upon right actions or goes before them, so that, whether by anticipation or by the aftermath of the passion, the soul may seem to itself in a way unprofitable, however great its virtues and right actions may otherwise be. But with the former we fight by much humility and charity; with the latter we fight by continence, freedom from anger and deep thought of death, so that thenceforth, feeling the working of the Holy Spirit without any intermission, we may come to be above the passions in the Lord.
CAPUT C.
CHAPTER C.
Quomodo a religiosis statim confitenda sint Deo peccata, etiam non voluntaria, contra regulam commissa, et quomodo providendum, ne se fallat conscientia, dum existimat satis se confessam, et de metu tempore mortis, si non, ut decet, confessi Deo fuerimus, et quomodo hujusmodi metus adjuvet daemones in illa hora, et de iis qui fiducia et exsultatione excedunt ex hac vita, et quae sit causa ejusmodi fiduciae, et de iis qui cum formidine excedunt.
How religious men must at once confess to God their sins, even the involuntary ones committed against the rule; and how care must be taken lest the conscience deceive itself while it thinks it has confessed enough; and on the fear at the time of death, if we have not confessed to God as is fitting, and how such fear helps the demons in that hour; and on those who depart from this life with confidence and exultation, and what is the cause of such confidence; and on those who depart with dread.
Quicunque sanctae cognitionis participes facti sumus, de omnibus etiam involuntariis cogitationibus vanis rationem reposcemur. Annotasti, inquit Job, si quid invitus transgressus sum, ac merito id quidem. Etiam si quis nunquam memoriam Dei intermiserit, neque studium mandatorum ejus neglexerit, in peccatum voluntarium aut non voluntarium decidet. Oportet igitur offerre Domino statim vehementem confessionem etiam erratorum non voluntariorum, quae scilicet ad exercitationem regulae consuetae pertinent; non enim fieri potest, quin homo humana non committat. Confiteri, inquam, oportet, donec conscientia confitentis in lacrymis charitatis de remissione eorum plene persuasum habeat. Si enim, inquit, confiteamur peccata nostra, fidelis est et justus, ut remittat nobis peccata nostra, et emundet nos ab omni iniquitate. Oportet autem attendere semper sensum confessionis, ne forte conscientia nostra sibi mentiatur, dum satis se quis confessum esse Deo suspicatur. Siquidem longe majus est judicium Dei conscientia nostra, tametsi
All of us who have been made partakers of holy knowledge shall be called to account even for all our involuntary vain thoughts. Thou hast marked, says Job, if I have transgressed in anything unwillingly; and rightly so. Even if someone never interrupts the remembrance of God nor neglects zeal for His commandments, he will fall into sin, voluntary or involuntary. We must therefore offer to the Lord at once a vehement confession even of involuntary errors, namely those that pertain to the exercise of the accustomed rule; for it cannot be that a man does not commit human faults. We must confess, I say, until the conscience of the one confessing is fully persuaded, in tears of charity, of their remission. For if, he says, we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity. But we must always attend to the sense of confession, lest perhaps our conscience lie to itself, while someone supposes that he has confessed enough to God. For the judgement of God is far greater than our conscience, even if […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1210
Footnotes
(85) ‹ab omni iniquitate› · printed under col 1209
I Joan. I, 9.
1 John 1:9.
Page
- running head: 1209 CAPITA DE PERFECTIONE SPIRITUALI. 1210 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹nem; et causa›; B ‹permittit eum quandoque›; C ‹cata, etiam non voluntaria›; D ‹vehementem confessionem›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with the end of the caption of chapter XCIX ("nem", the end of "libidinem", set whole in col 1209). No note call is printed at the quotation of Job. No footnote is printed under this column. The column ends "tametsi", a whole word; chapter C runs on into col 1211. Note 85's figure is small and blurred; numbered by sequence.
exploratum ei sit plenissime, nihil se sibi conscium esse, ut beatus Apostolus nos docet, cum ait: Sed neque me ipsum judico; nihil enim mihi conscius sum, sed non in hoc justificatus sum, qui autem me judicat, Dominus est. Etenim nisi, ut decet, confessi fuerimus, metum quemdam latentem tempore obitus nostri in nobis reperiemus. Quare opus est precari, qui Dominum diligimus, ut simus tunc extra omnem metum; nam qui tunc in metu erit, per potestates tartareas non libere et fidenter transibit, habent enim illae veluti adjutorem malitiae suae metum ipsum animae; at anima, quae in sua erga Deum charitate hora mortis exsultat, supra omnes acies daemonum cum angelis pacis sublimius
[…] it has been most fully established for it that it is conscious of nothing against itself, as the blessed Apostle teaches us when he says: But neither do I judge myself; for I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified in this; but He Who judges me is the Lord. For unless we have confessed as is fitting, we shall find in ourselves a certain hidden fear at the time of our death. Wherefore we who love the Lord must pray that we may then be beyond all fear; for he who is in fear at that time will not pass freely and confidently through the powers of Tartarus, since they have the soul's very fear as a kind of helper of their malice; but the soul which exults in its charity towards God in the hour of death, above all the battle lines of the demons, with the angels of peace, on high […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1211
Footnotes
(86) ‹me judicat, Dominus est› · printed under col 1211
I Cor. IV, 4.
1 Cor. 4:4.
Page
- running head: 1211 MARCI DIACONI … 1212 (across the page; the head already names the next work)
- marginal letters: A ‹exploratum ei sit›; the letter B at the foot stands beside the next work
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with "exploratum", a whole word (col 1210 ends "tametsi"). Diadochus's text fills only the top of the column; its last word here, "sublimius", is hyphenated into col 1212 and set whole here. Note 87 printed under this column is called in col 1212 (see n1212). Below the notes a full-width double rule, and under it the next work begins: the full-width title "MARCI DIACONI / VITA S. PORPHYRII EPISCOPI GAZENZIS.", the interpreter line ("Interprete Gentian…", the rest beyond the part rendered), a source line from Galland's Veterum Patrum Bibliotheca, and "PROLOGUS." — all belonging to that work's own unit, not to this one.
fertur; est enim anima illa, veluti pennata spirituali charitate, ut quae integre pleuitudinem legis, ipsam scilicet, charitatem secum ferat. Quamobrem in adventu Domini, qui cum hujusmodi fiducia ex hac vita excesserint, cum omnibus sanctis rapientur; qui vero tempore mortis vel paulisper formidarint, in multitudine omnium aliorum hominum relinquentur, tanquam judicium subeuntes, ut igne judicii examinati, sortes sibi debitas pro ratione factorum a Deo optimo et Rege Jesu Christo recipiant, quoniam ipse est Deus justitiae, et ipsius sunt in sempiternum divitiae benignitatis in nos, qui eum diligimus. Amen.
[…] is borne; for that soul is, as it were, winged with spiritual charity, as one that carries with it entire the fullness of the law, namely charity itself. Wherefore at the coming of the Lord those who have departed from this life with such confidence will be caught up with all the saints; but those who at the time of death have been afraid even for a little while will be left in the multitude of all other men, as those who undergo judgement, so that, tested by the fire of judgement, they may receive the lots due to them according to the reckoning of their deeds from God most good and the King Jesus Christ; for He is the God of justice, and His are for ever the riches of kindness towards us who love Him. Amen.
Editors' notes and page, col. 1212
Footnotes
(87) ‹charitatem› · printed under col 1211
Rom. XIII, 10.
Rom. 13:10.
Page
- running head: 1211 MARCI DIACONI … 1212 (across the page)
- marginal letters: A ‹fertur; est enim›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature: none
- other: the column opens with "mius", the end of "sublimius", set whole in col 1211. The work ends in this column with "Amen." (end of chapter C), in the upper part of the column; below it the full-width double rule and title of the next work (Marcus Diaconus, Vita S. Porphyrii), which belong to that work's own unit. The call of note 87 stands after "charitatem" (the call is printed with a small mark below it). Misprint: "pleuitudinem" for plenitudinem (read at zoom 4).